betoken
Americanverb (used with object)
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betokens,
present (3rd person singular)
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betokened,
past participle, past
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betokening
present participle
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to give evidence of; indicate.
to betoken one's fidelity with a vow; a kiss that betokens one's affection.
-
to be or give a token or sign of; portend.
a thunderclap that betokens foul weather; an angry word that betokens hostility.
verb
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to indicate; signify
black clothes betoken mourning
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to portend; augur
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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betokensimple
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betokenssimple
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have betokenedperfect
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has betokenedperfect
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am betokeningprogressive
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are betokeningprogressive
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is betokeningprogressive
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have been betokeningperfect progressive
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has been betokeningperfect progressive
Past
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betokenedsimple
-
had betokenedperfect
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was betokeningprogressive
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were betokeningprogressive
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had been betokeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of betoken
First recorded in 1125–75, betoken is from the Middle English word bitocnen, bitacnen. See be-, token
Explanation
A dark sky full of clouds might betoken a thunderstorm. In other words, the clouds indicate or point to the fact that a thunderstorm is on its way. You're most likely to come across the word betoken in an English class or a book, since it's primarily a literary word used to express the idea of signifying or symbolizing something. There's often a sense of mystery around the word; for example, a black cat might betoken bad luck, or be an omen of something slightly scary. However, there are plenty of cheerful examples, like when a ring betokens love.
Vocabulary lists containing betoken
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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"The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs
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The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The SpaceX IPO had some peculiarities that have made the stock especially volatile, and betoken more volatility ahead.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
This “Cyrano” centers the freedom that new forms of drama betoken, and all the ways that the writing of the past can feed them — from Rostand to Emily Dickinson.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 14, 2022
But it doesn’t betoken a path to profitability, in part because the improvement reflected an intensified squeeze on drivers.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 10, 2019
Banks employ armies of people in back offices, looking for discrepancies that may betoken fraud or honest error.
From Economist ● Mar. 22, 2018
It is a power that increases with the spread of education; and what does it betoken?
From The Life of Thomas Wanless, Peasant by Alexander Johnstone Wilson
The Wiseman reference betokens a certain seriousness on the part of the creators, an awareness that people might be watching who know a thing or two about the subject.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2025
The circular patterning also betokens a geometry repeated around official Washington: the Oval Office, the Rotunda, the dome of the Jefferson Memorial.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 12, 2018
“That man betokens such a level of ignorance and a direct falsification of the existing scientific data,” Brown told host Chuck Todd.
From US News ● Mar. 23, 2015
Not just denies: “That man betokens such a level of ignorance and a direct falsification of scientific data,” Brown said Sunday during an appearance on Meet the Press.
From Salon ● Mar. 23, 2015
Researchers have often wondered whether the Inka collapse betokens a major historical lesson.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
The statistics betokened a return to artistic health for the 41 theaters of Broadway, forced to shut down for 15 months starting in March 2020 because of the pandemic.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 12, 2022
And yet, even that everydayness betokened a complex reality.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 2, 2020
“But even that’s a cliché, you know. And then you’ve got ‘the sun peeped through the foliage’ and ‘the ominous black clouds that betokened thunder’—betokened, right?
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 10, 2016
I think Obama really betokened a new day in America.
From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2016
In the blue haze of the distance a black blur betokened the position of the enemy, and it seemed that at any moment the hoarse challenge of the Boer outpost would give the alarm.
From The Siege of Mafeking (1900) by J. Angus Hamilton
Set designer Donald Eastman places the action in an airy courtyard of broken concrete slabs — the cracks in the cement betokening the fissures that will symbolically swallow up Floyd.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 10, 2021
Steven Soderbergh is an executive producer, betokening prestige and meaning that his name is linked with the title in every press report.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2017
These days, you might well think, to have your house blurred from Google Street View is the new status symbol, a must-have digital absence betokening your big-ass presence in the world of celebrity.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 14, 2014
Secretary of Agriculture, good crop weather is bad news, betokening bumper surpluses.
From Time Magazine Archive
The keen eyes looked straight out at the observer, with an earnestness of gaze betokening earnestness of purpose.
From Niece Catherine by Mary Hampden
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
