presage

[ noun pres-ij; verb pres-ij, pri-seyj ]

See synonyms for: presage presaging on Thesaurus.com

noun

a presentiment or foreboding.
something that portends or foreshadows a future event; an omen, prognostic, or warning indication.

prophetic significance; augury.
foresight; prescience.
Archaic. a forecast or prediction.

verb (used with object),pres·aged, pres·ag·ing.

to have a presentiment of.
to portend, foreshow, or foreshadow: The incidents may presage war.

to forecast; predict.

verb (used without object),pres·aged, pres·ag·ing.

to make a prediction.
Archaic. to have a presentiment.

Origin of presage

1350–1400; Middle English (noun) <Middle French presage<Latin praesāgium presentiment, forewarning, equivalent to praesāg(us) having a foreboding (prae-pre- + sāgus prophetic; cf. sagacious) + -ium-ium

Other words for presage

1	foreshadowing, indication, premonition
2	portent, sign, token

See synonyms for presage on Thesaurus.com

Other words from presage

pres·age·ful, adjective
pres·age·ful·ly, adverb
pres·ag·er, noun
un·pres·aged, adjective
un·pres·ag·ing, adjective

Words Nearby presage

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use presage in a sentence

It strikes me as a presage of the challenges we’ll increasingly face to survive the climate crisis while we work to solve it.
These Women Are Transforming What Climate Leadership Looks Like. Here's What They Learned From the Pandemic | Elijah Wolfson | April 20, 2021 | Time
From quotes Clinton a lot, and he credits Clinton with saying that an intellectual resurgence has to presage political power.
The Republican Party Needs an RLC | Eleanor Clift | January 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
But I recall nothing in Possession, Angels & Insects, Babel Tower, or her other books that seems to presage this one.
Must Reads: Wild Abandon, Ramona Ausubel, A.S. Byatt | Nicholas Mancusi, Jennifer Miller, Allen Barra | March 6, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
There were so many unmistakable signs to presage what was coming that I knew a cannibal feast was about to take place.
The Adventures of Louis de Rougemont | Louis de Rougemont
The song is founded upon the story of the aged couple of whom I spoke, and is regarded as a contribution of good presage.
A Fantasy of Far Japan | Baron Kencho Suyematsu

Only for a moment could any presage of personal fear cloud the sweet serenity of the Maid's nature.
A Heroine of France | Evelyn Everett-Green
Ominous word at such a moment, but the presage of something darker and more ominous still.
Tony Butler | Charles James Lever
The most encouraging time for them was from the year 1874 to 1875, when all seemed to presage better days for them.
The History of Yiddish Literature in the Nineteenth Century | Leo Wiener

British Dictionary definitions for presage

presage

noun(ˈprɛsɪdʒ)

an intimation or warning of something about to happen; portent; omen
a sense of what is about to happen; foreboding

archaic a forecast or prediction

verb(ˈprɛsɪdʒ, prɪˈseɪdʒ)

(tr) to have a presentiment of
(tr) to give a forewarning of; portend

(intr) to make a prediction

Origin of presage

C14: from Latin praesāgium presentiment, from praesāgīre to perceive beforehand, from sāgīre to perceive acutely

Derived forms of presage

presageful, adjective
presagefully, adverb
presager, noun

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

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