Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To serve as an omen or a warning of; presage: black clouds that portend a storm.
- v. To indicate by prediction; forecast: leading economic indicators that portend a recession.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To stretch forth; protend.
- To betoken; presage; signify in advance; foreshow.
- Synonyms To forebode, augur, presage, threaten, foreshadow. See omen.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To indicate (events, misfortunes, etc.) as in future; to foreshow; to foretoken; to bode; -- now used esp. of unpropitious signs.
- v. rare To stretch out before.
WordNet 3.0
- v. indicate by signs
Etymologies
- From the Latin portendere ("to foretell"), from por- ("forward") + tendere ("to stretch"), present active infinitive of tendo. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English portenden, from Latin portendere; see ten- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“What these stories portend is a pattern of naturalistic thought that permeates the greater part of all of Jack London's writing after 1902.”
“The Kipling of the Klondike”: Naturalism in London's Early Fiction
“Wonder if he thinks 'portend' means 'feel very good'.”
“Ravages of age: Glacier National Park turns 100, but melting glaciers portend big changes resources | Recommend”
“Although there are signs that an increasing number of mental health experts are taking an honest look at the facts regarding homosexual behavior and sexual orientation therapy, there are other signs that portend an even darker future for the profession.”
“What they portend is that—just as Wells had written at the start of "War of the Worlds"—an old, arid world with its dried-up canals is now intent on conquest.”
“But with millions of people nearing the end of their working lives, low rates also portend meager returns on fixed-income investments.”
“But leasing activity and excited explorers portend a bonanza, analysts and executives say.”
The Wall Street Journal: Producers, Refiners Sniff Opportunity in Rust Belt Oil Shale
“But over time, his former crew comes to his aid and, realizing his visions portend certain doom unless they do something, team up with their former Captain to save the Galaxy from certain destruction.”
5 Lessons Tiger Woods Could’ve Learned from Watching Star Trek | Fandomania
“That Obama and Reagan are still almost identical poll twins could portend good news for the current occupant of the Oval Office down the road.”
“LONDON—A crack opened in Europe's credit markets last week that could portend deeper trouble for the region's banks and governments.”
The Wall Street Journal: Bond Deal May Augur More European Travails
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘portend’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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2nd part
prelude, ample, escalate, prototype, accession, acquisition, archives, zealot, indict, verdict, intimidating, timid and 454 more...
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GRE
predilection, explicit, appeal, supplication, appealing, enchanting, ovation, pertinent, apropos, opportunely, applicable, germane and 381 more...
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Old words
recalcitrant, grok, Hiatus, shanghai, pervade, diffuse, tempestuous, incorrigible, daunt, cull, Erudite, Assuage and 35 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1834 more...
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ash vocab
flippant, fillip, expiate, explicate, extirpate, facile, florid, fealty, allegiance, fetid, febrile, pert and 134 more...
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ecbrenner's list
flatline, luddism, apocalipstick, muttsucker, leviathan of fore..., flint, coryphaeus, donnybrook, bandwidth, bagpipe the mizen, cheesed off, asterism and 525 more...
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(more or less) Temporary Urth List
Temporary list is temporary.
Collecting a few words here, which are then to be alloted to other lists.vassal, gnaw, putrescence, liege, pederasty, disseminate, loot, waning, fitful, hiatuse, plow, pious and 292 more...
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BonMots
assiduous, progeny, hegemony, nascent, reticent, ephemera, zeitgeist, recalcitrant, copious, corporeal, cacaphonous, obstreperous and 108 more...
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practice 2
100 words
momentous, domicile, adroit, ingenious, dexterous, genius, brevity, decorum, propriety, dignity, err, blunder and 91 more...
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NTDW1
template, modal, sublingual, tandem, polycentric, septuagenarian, token, irrevocable, denotive, augural, aberrant, phlebotomy and 1188 more...
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Predictionary
EXPECTED vs. SURPRISE
aberration, exception, spontaneous, synchronicity, startle, waylay, prophecy, zemblanity, inadvertent, atavism, sui generis, anomaly and 127 more...
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Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
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List of words to expand my vocabulary
does what it says on the tin, and is severely needed.
indolent, insolent, idly, divulge, tattle, benign, roguish, daintily, idle, dowdy, sordid, wanton and 242 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for portend.
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