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Definition of Portend
1. Verb. Indicate by signs. "These signs bode bad news"
Specialized synonyms: Threaten, Foreshow
Generic synonyms: Bespeak, Betoken, Indicate, Point, Signal
Derivative terms: Augur, Auspice, Forecast, Foreshadowing, Omen, Portent, Predictive, Prefigurative, Presage, Prognosis, Prognostication
Definition of Portend
1. v. t. To indicate (events, misfortunes, etc.) as in future; to foreshow; to foretoken; to bode; -- now used esp. of unpropitious signs.
Definition of Portend
1. Verb. (transitive) to serve as a warning or omen ¹
2. Verb. (transitive) to signify; to denote ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Portend
1. to serve as an omen of [v -ED, -ING, -S]
Lexicographical Neighbors of Portend
Literary usage of Portend
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The Writings of George Washington: Being His Correspondence, Addresses by George Washington, Jared Sparks (1835)
"... has sustained by the death of this valuable character ; especially at this
crisis, when the political machine seems to portend the most awful events. ..."
2. Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English: Containing Words from the by Thomas Wright (1904)
"MACKEREL, ». (Fr.) A bawd. MACKEREL-SKY, ». A streaky sky, believed to portend
wind and rain. ... portend ..."
3. Crabb's English Synonyms by George Crabb (1917)
"... in general, a heavy burden upon the inhabitants: there are some persons who
are not ashamed to live and die as paupers. POPULACE. See PEOPLE. portend. ..."
4. Arctic Experiences: Containing Capt. George E. Tyson's Wonderful Drift on by Euphemia Vale Blake (1874)
"Heat of Esquimaux Hats.—Desponding Thoughts.—"So I sit and dream of Plans for
Release."—Terrific Noises portend the breaking up of the Floe. ..."
5. Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos, Or Quadripartite: Being Four Books of the Influence by Ptolemy, Proclus, Philip Ranger, J. M. Ashmand (1822)
"And, in a word, all remarkable phenomena, visible in the sky, universally portend
that certain appropriate events will be produced, each harmonising with ..."
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