foresee

B2 Topic:Actions & Processes

Also spelled forsee and forsees

US /fɔɹˈsi/ UK /fɔːˈsiː/ See IPA manual

Freq #18269

Meanings

1

verb
To know or expect that something will happen before it does.

No one could foresee the sudden change in the weather.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to know or expect that... anticipate predict

More think

Word family

Forms foresawforeseeingforeseenforesees

Derived forms foreseeabilityforeseeableforeseer

Related forms forseeunforeseen

Etymology

From Middle English foreseen, forseen, from Old English foresēon; equivalent to fore- + see. Similar formations in Dutch voorzien, German vorsehen, Latin prōvideō, (whence provide and purvey), Ancient Greek πρόοιδα (próoida), Polish przewidzieć, Russian провидеть (providetʹ).

foreseen Middle English foresēon Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# foresee

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /fɔɹˈsi/
**IPA (UK):** /fɔːˈsiː/
**Frequency rank:** 18269

## Meanings
1. To know or expect that something will happen before it does.

## Examples
- No one could foresee the sudden change in the weather.

## Synonyms
- anticipate
- predict
- think

## Derived Forms
- foreseeability
- foreseeable
- foreseer

## Related Forms
- forsee
- unforeseen

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: foreseen
- Root: foresēon
- Affix: fore- - before

## Etymology
From Middle English foreseen, forseen, from Old English foresēon; equivalent to fore- + see. Similar formations in Dutch voorzien, German vorsehen, Latin prōvideō, (whence provide and purvey), Ancient Greek πρόοιδα (próoida), Polish przewidzieć, Russian провидеть (providetʹ).

## AI Etymology
Foresee comes from Middle English foreseen, forseen, from Old English foresēon; equivalent to fore- + see. Similar formations in Dutch voorzien, German vorsehen, Latin prōvideō, (whence provide and purvey), Ancient Greek πρόοιδα (próoida), Polish przewidzieć, Russian провидеть (providetʹ). In current use, the main sense is “To know or expect that something will happen before it does”.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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