foretell
/fɔːˈtɛl
/verb (past and past participle foretold /fɔːˈtəʊld/) [with object]
Predict (the future or a future event): [with clause]: a seer had foretold that the earl would assume the throne...
- In the Greek theatre Chorus speaks for the citizens, comments on events and foretells the future.
- A science which teaches to judge of the effects and influences of the stars, and to foretell future events, by their situation and different aspects.
- In pagan times poets were thought to be gifted with second sight, able in a trance or frenzy to foretell future events.
Synonyms
predict, forecast, foresee, anticipate, envisage, envision, see, prophesy, prognosticate, augur, divine;
warn, forewarn
archaic foreshow, croak
Scottish archaic spae
rare vaticinate, auspicate
augur, presage, portend, foreshadow, indicate, signal, point to, add up to, be an omen of, be a warning of, be a harbinger of
literary forebode, foretoken, betoken, harbinger
rare prefigure
Derivatives
foreteller
- For example, for a fateful moment, such as the dispatch of a large shipment by sea, some exporters would require the advice of experts and outsiders, the counsel of foretellers, and the help of the Virgin Mary.
- We are in the best prophetic traditions, not foretellers, but forthtellers: we would like to say what ought to be, and we speak in the name of tradition in this way.
- Someone has to become the foreteller of the future, and they start leading people toward it.