portend

[pawr-tend, pohr-]

See more synonyms for portend on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to indicate in advance; to foreshadow or presage, as an omen does: The street incident may portend a general uprising.
to signify; mean.

Origin of portend

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin portendere to point out, indicate, portend, variant of prōtendere to extend. See pro-¹, tend¹

Related formsun·por·tend·ed, adjective

Can be confusedportend pretend (see synonym study at pretend)

Synonyms for portend

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1. foretell, forecast, augur, promise, forebode.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for portend

predict, augur, foretell, presage, bespeak, harbinger, omen, hint, read, prophesy, betoken, adumbrate, forecast, herald, forebode, call, promise, prognosticate, threaten, forewarn

Examples from the Web for portend

Contemporary Examples of portend

Could the retirement of Rep. Tom Latham, a close friend, portend the exit of Speaker John Boehner as well?
Latham’s Retirement Spurs Boehner Rumors
Ben Jacobs
December 17, 2013
A look at the most bizarre metrics used to portend the winner of the presidential election.
Strangest Presidential Election Predictors: 7-Eleven Coffee Cups & More
Kevin Fallon
October 4, 2012
Well, the polls have started to come, and they portend total disaster.
Michael Tomasky on the GOP’s Self-Delusion Syndrome
Michael Tomasky
September 27, 2012
The even bigger question, of course, is whether unity will portend not peace but war?
October Surprise?
Elisheva Goldberg
May 8, 2012

Historical Examples of portend

It was one of those mornings in summer which portend a thunderstorm and great heat.
The Christian
Hall Caine
What could it portend but that the effects of the poison were passing off and that she was recovering?
The Shame of Motley
Raphael Sabatini
Atlee watched her, by no means certain what her gesture might portend.
Lord Kilgobbin
Charles Lever
A plan was devised to find out what this extravagance of candle might portend.
Gilian The Dreamer
Neil Munro
What did it portend that Mrs. Stannard should have cut Mr. Gleason dead?
Marion's Faith.
Charles King

British Dictionary definitions for portend

portend

verb (tr)

to give warning of; predict or foreshadow
obsolete to indicate or signify; mean

Word Origin for portend

C15: from Latin portendere to indicate, foretell; related to prōtendere to stretch out

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for portend

early 15c., from Latin portendere "foretell, reveal; point out, indicate," originally "to stretch forward," from por- (variant of pro-; see pro-) "forth, forward" + tendere "to stretch, extend" (see tenet). Related: Portended; portending.