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Origin and history of forebode

forebode(v.)

"feel a secret premonition," especially of something evil, c. 1600, from fore- + bode. Transitive meaning "announce beforehand, presage," especially something undesirable, is from 1660s. Intransitive sense "to presage" is from 1711. Related: Foreboded; foreboding. Old English forebodian meant "to announce, declare."

also from c. 1600

Entries linking to forebode

bode(v.)

Old English bodian "proclaim, announce; announce beforehand, foretell," from boda "messenger," probably from Proto-Germanic *budon- (source also of Old Saxon gibod, German gebot, Old Norse boð), from PIE root *bheudh- "be aware, make aware."

With good or ill, "give a (good or bad) portent or promise," late 14c. As a shortened form of forebode "presage" (usually something evil), it dates from 1740. Related: Boded; boding.

foreboding(n.)

late 14c., "a predilection, portent, omen," from fore- + verbal noun from bode. Meaning "sense of something bad about to happen" is from c. 1600. Old English equivalent form forebodung meant "prophecy." Related: Forebodingly.

fore-

Middle English for-, fore-, from Old English fore-, often for- or foran-, from fore (adv. & prep.), which was used as a prefix in Old English as in other Germanic languages with a sense of "before in time, rank, position," etc., or designating the front part or earliest time.

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    predict
    1620s (implied in predicted), "foretell, prophesy, declare before the event happens," a back formation from prediction or else from Latin praedicatus, past participle of praedicere "foretell, advise, give notice," from prae "before" (see pre-) + dicere "to say" (from PIE root *de
    prognosticate
    "foretell by means of present signs," early 15c., prenosticaten, a back-formation from prognostication and also from Medieval Latin prognosticatus, past participle of prognosticare "foretell," from Latin prognostica "sign to forecast weather," from neuter plural of Greek prognōst
    call
    mid-13c., "cry out; call for, summon, invoke; ask for, demand, order; give a name to, apply by way of designation," from Old Norse kalla "cry loudly, summon in a loud voice; name, call by name," from Proto-Germanic *kall- (source also of Middle Dutch kallen "speak, say, tell," Du
    lich
    down at a burial to await the arrival of the minister; lich-owl "screech-owl" was so called because it was supposed to forebode...
    read
    (West Saxon), redan, geredan (Anglian) "to advise, counsel, persuade; discuss, deliberate; rule, guide; arrange, equip; forebode...
    anticipate
    1530s, "to cause to happen sooner," a back-formation from anticipation, or else from Latin anticipatus, past participle of anticipare "take (care of) ahead of time," literally "taking into possession beforehand," from anti, an old form of ante "before" (from PIE root *ant- "front
    promise
    c. 1400, promisse, "a solemn pledge; a vow; a declaration in reference to the future made by one person to another, assuring the latter that the former will do, or not do, a specified act," from Old French promesse "promise, guarantee, assurance" (13c.) and directly from Latin pr
    guess
    c. 1300, gessen "to infer from observation, perceive, find out; form an opinion, judge, decide, discern; evaluate, estimate the number, importance, etc. of," perhaps from Scandinavian (compare Middle Danish gitse, getze "to guess," Old Norse geta "guess, get"), or from or influen
    second-guess
    by 1938, originally a baseball verb; see second (adj.) + guess (n.). The expression second guess originated in big league baseball. In baseball, a man making a play has time only for one thought on that particular play. He must make up his mind in a flash how he is going to make
    calculate
    1560s, "ascertain by computation, estimate by mathematical means," from Latin calculatus, past participle of calculare "to reckon, compute," from calculus (see calculus). It replaced earlier calculen (mid-14c.), from Old French calculer. The meaning "to plan, devise" is attested

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