prognostic

[prog-nos-tik]

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adjective

of or relating to prognosis.

predictive of something in the future: prognostic signs and symbols.

noun

a forecast or prediction.

an omen or portent; sign.

Origin of prognostic

1375–1425; (adj.) late Middle English pronostik < Medieval Latin prognōsticus < Greek prognōstikós of foreknowledge, equivalent to pro(gi)gnṓs(kein) to know¹ beforehand + -tikos -tic (see pro-², gnostic); (noun) < Latin prognōsticon < Greek prognōstikón, neuter of prognōstikós

Related formsprog·nos·ti·ca·ble, adjectiveprog·nos·ti·cal·ly, adverb

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

Related Words for prognostic

foreboding, auspice, harbinger, straw, augury, sign, forerunner, warning, prognostication, premonition, indication, prophecy, writing, presage, portent, foretoken, anticipating, conjecturing, divining

Examples from the Web for prognostic

Historical Examples of prognostic

"She will recover," he murmured, as though giving utterance to a prognostic.
The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete
Emile Zola
The prognostic importance of the enumeration of the white blood corpuscles.
Histology of the Blood
Paul Ehrlich
Wat Wilder has observed it at the same time, and confirms the prognostic.
The Lone Ranche
Captain Mayne Reid
It was Ellison who suggested that they were prognostic of death.
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
For that it was a prognostic of some fearful calamity, no one thought of doubting.
Robin Tremayne
Emily Sarah Holt

British Dictionary definitions for prognostic

prognostic

adjective

of, relating to, or serving as a prognosis

foretelling or predicting

noun

med any symptom or sign used in making a prognosis

a sign or forecast of some future occurrence

Word Origin for prognostic

C15: from Old French pronostique, from Latin prognōsticum, from Greek prognōstikon, from progignōskein to know in advance

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 prognostic

adj.

c.1600, from Medieval Latin prognosticus, from Greek prognostikos "foreknowing," from progignoskein (see prognosis). Related: Prognostical (1580s).

prognostic in Medicine