portent
noun /ˈpɔːtent/
/ˈpɔːrtent/
(literary)- a sign or warning of something that is going to happen in the future, especially when it is something unpleasant synonym omen
- The event proved to be a portent of the disaster that was to come.
- We shall try to reach an agreement but the portents are not good.
Word Originlate 16th cent.: from Latin portentum ‘omen, token’, from the verb portendere, based on pro- ‘forth’ + tendere ‘stretch’.