predict

[pri-dikt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR predict ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to declare or tell in advance; prophesy; foretell: to predict the weather; to predict the fall of a civilization.

verb (used without object)

to foretell the future; make a prediction.

Origin of predict

1540–50; < Latin praedictus, past participle of praedīcere to foretell, equivalent to prae- pre- + dic-, variant stem of dīcere to say + -tus past participle suffix; see dictum

Related formspre·dict·a·ble, adjectivepre·dict·a·bil·i·ty, nounmis·pre·dict, verbun·pre·dict·ed, adjectiveun·pre·dict·ing, adjective

Synonyms for predict

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR predict ON THESAURUS.COM

1, 2. presage, divine, augur, project, prognosticate, portend. Predict, prophesy, foresee, forecast mean to know or tell (usually correctly) beforehand what will happen. To predict is usually to foretell with precision of calculation, knowledge, or shrewd inference from facts or experience: The astronomers can predict an eclipse; it may, however, be used without the implication of underlying knowledge or expertise: I predict she'll be a success at the party. Prophesy usually means to predict future events by the aid of divine or supernatural inspiration: Merlin prophesied the two knights would meet in conflict; this verb, too, may be used in a more general, less specific sense. I prophesy he'll be back in the old job. To foresee refers specifically not to the uttering of predictions but to the mental act of seeing ahead; there is often (but not always) a practical implication of preparing for what will happen: He was clever enough to foresee this shortage of materials. Forecast has much the same meaning as predict; it is used today particularly of the weather and other phenomena that cannot easily be accurately predicted: Rain and snow are forecast for tonight. Economists forecast a rise in family income.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for predict

foresee, envision, conclude, anticipate, forecast, call, think, figure, prophesy, portend, vaticinate, prognosticate, surmise, guess, forebode, presage, infer, conjecture, read, adumbrate

Examples from the Web for predict

Contemporary Examples of predict

But so-called jungle primaries are notoriously hard to predict or poll.
The Golden State Preps for the ‘Red Wedding’ of Senate Races
David Freedlander
January 9, 2015
A successful trend-maker might be able to steer a conversation, but virality remains extremely difficult to predict.
China’s Internet Is Freer Than You Think
Brendon Hong
December 27, 2014
They predict the government of President Petro Poroshenko may not last another three months.
Ukraine Militias Warn of Anti-Kiev Coup
Jamie Dettmer
November 28, 2014
Experts [predict] that over a million people in the region need food aid to allay shortages.
Liberia’s Ebola Famine
Abby Haglage, Nina Strochlic
November 13, 2014
Zuckerberg himself has bragged that he is able to predict which site members will hook up with whom based on their site activity.
How Four Upstarts Built and Crashed the Anti-Facebook
Jake Whitney
November 12, 2014

Historical Examples of predict

I ventured to predict that success awaited him in the rubber business.
Punchinello, Vol. 1. No. 20, August 13, 1870
Various
The mind that grows could not predict the times, the means, the mode of that spontaneity.
Essays, First Series
Ralph Waldo Emerson
What doom or what disaster did this storm typify and predict?
The Christian
Hall Caine
It is easy to predict that the day will come when there will be need of each of these manouvres.
On Horsemanship
Xenophon
So I forbore to predict what would be his ultimate form of beauty.
Our Young Folks at Home and Abroad
Various

British Dictionary definitions for predict

predict

verb

(tr; may take a clause as object) to state or make a declaration about in advance, esp on a reasoned basis; foretell

Derived Formspredictable, adjectivepredictability or predictableness, nounpredictably, adverb

Word Origin for predict

C17: from Latin praedīcere to mention beforehand, from prae before + dīcere to say

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 predict

1620s (implied in predicted), "foretell, prophesy," a back formation from prediction or else from Latin praedicatus, past participle of praedicere "foretell, advise, give notice," from prae "before" (see pre-) + dicere "to say" (see diction). Related: Predicted; predicting.