portend

English

WOTD – 27 July 2012, 27 July 2013, 27 July 2014, 27 July 2015

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin portendere (“to foretell”), from por- (“forward”) + tendere (“to stretch”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɔːˈtɛnd/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /pɔɹˈtɛnd/
• Rhymes: -ɛnd

Verb

portend (third-person singular simple present portends, present participle portending, simple past and past participle portended)

1. (transitive) To serve as a warning or omen of.
   • 1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 4:

     A kingdom they portend thee, but what kingdom, / Real or allegoric, I discern not; Nor when: eternal sure--as without end,

2. (transitive) To signify; to denote.

   Let it be known that the Rapture portends the End of Days.

   • 1982 April 10, Jane Barnes, “Terror and Hope”, in Gay Community News, page 10:

     How alive these poems are with the visual specifics of what he so closely observes, how full of elegance, terror and hope. They portend a poet of major craft, of deep feeling, and of fine intelligence.

   • 2012 June 26, Genevieve Koski, “Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe”, in The A.V. Club‎^[1], archived from the original on 6 August 2020:

     When the staccato, Neptunes-ian single “Boyfriend” was released in March, musical prognosticators were quick to peg the album it portended, Believe, as Justin Bieber’s Justified, a grown-and-sexy, R&B-centric departure that evolved millennial teenybopper Justin Timberlake into one of the unifying pop-music figures of the aughts.

   • 2026 April 23, Sophie Gilbert, “Life Isn’t Easy in the OnlyFans Economy”, in Jeffrey Goldberg, editor, The Atlantic‎^[2], Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 May 2026:

     Margo vomits at her waitressing job without realizing what it portends.

Synonyms

• foreshadow
• presage

Derived terms

• portender
• portention, portendment

Related terms

• portent
• portentive
• portentous

Translations

to serve as a warning or omen

• Arabic: أَنْذَرَ (ʔanḏara)
• Armenian: կանխագուշակել (hy) (kanxagušakel), նախագուշակել (hy) (naxagušakel), գուշակել (hy) (gušakel)
• Bulgarian: вещая (bg) (veštaja), предвещавам (bg) (predveštavam)
• Catalan: presagiar (ca), anunciar (ca)
• Czech: hlásat, věstit
• Dutch: aankondigen (nl)
• Finnish: tietää (fi)
• French: annoncer (fr), présager (fr)
• German: ankündigen (de), vorbedeuten, vorhersagen (de)
• Greek: προμηνύω (el) (prominýo), προαναγγέλω (proanangélo)
• Italian: preannunciare (it), presagire (it)
• Latin: portendō
• Portuguese: pressagiar (pt)
• Russian: предвеща́ть (ru) impf (predveščátʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: navijestiti (sh)
• Spanish: presagiar (es)
• Swedish: varsla (sv)
• Turkish: önceden belirtmek (tr), önceden haber vermek (tr)

to signify — see also signify

• Armenian: նախանշան լինել (naxanšan linel)
• Bulgarian: означавам (bg) (označavam)
• Czech: být předzvěstí (varovnou)
• Finnish: merkitä (fi)
• French: signifier (fr)
• German: deuten (de), hindeuten (de), hinweisen (de), bedeuten (de)
• Greek: προμηνύω (el) (prominýo), προαναγγέλω (proanangélo)
• Polish: oznaczać (pl)
• Russian: предзнамено́вывать (ru) impf (predznamenóvyvatʹ), предзнаменова́ть (ru) pf (predznamenovátʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: naznačiti (sh)
• Swedish: båda (sv)
• Turkish: alâmet olmak, delâlet etmek (tr), (kötüye) işâret olmak

See also

• harbinger

Anagrams

• dropnet, protend