portend

C2+ Topic:Safety & Risk

US /pɔrˈtɛnd/ UK /pɔːˈtɛnd/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to be a sign or warning that something, usually momentous, is likely to happen

The darkening clouds seemed to portend a violent storm.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to be a sign or warning... foreshadow presage augur foretellforebodeherald betoken signify

Word family

Derived forms portent portentous

Related forms portent portentous

Etymology

From Latin portendere ('to foretell, predict, indicate'), from por- (a variant of pro-, 'forth') + tendere ('to stretch').

portendere Latin tendere Latin *ten- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

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# portend

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /pɔrˈtɛnd/
**IPA (UK):** /pɔːˈtɛnd/

## Meanings
1. to be a sign or warning that something, usually momentous, is likely to happen

## Examples
- The darkening clouds seemed to portend a violent storm.

## Synonyms
- foreshadow
- presage
- augur
- foretell
- forebode
- herald
- betoken
- signify

## Derived Forms
- portent
- portentous

## Related Forms
- portent
- portentous

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: portendere
- Root: tendere
- Root: *ten-

## Etymology
From Latin portendere ('to foretell, predict, indicate'), from por- (a variant of pro-, 'forth') + tendere ('to stretch').

## AI Etymology
Portend is from Latin portendere ('to foretell, predict, indicate'), from por- (a variant of pro-, 'forth') + tendere ('to stretch'). Important recorded forms include portendere (Latin), tendere (Latin), and *ten- (Proto-Indo-European). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense remains close to that composition, with the parts narrowing into a single lexical item. In current use it covers to be a sign or warning that something, usually momentous, is likely to happen. The wider family includes derived forms such as portent and portentous and related words such as portent and portentous.

## Topics
- Safety & Risk

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