portend


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Related to portend: ominous, portents

portend

foreshadow as an omen; signify; foretell; forecast; forebode: The skies portend a possible hurricane.
Not to be confused with:
pretend – make believe; deceive; feign: pretend surprise; simulate, fake, sham, counterfeit; assume: pretend a title
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree

por·tend

 (pôr-tĕnd′)
tr.v. por·tend·ed, por·tend·ing, por·tends
1. To serve as an omen or a warning of; presage: black clouds that portend a storm.
2. To indicate by prediction; forecast: leading economic indicators that portend a recession.

[Middle English portenden, from Latin portendere; see ten- in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

portend

(pɔːˈtɛnd)
vb (tr)
1. to give warning of; predict or foreshadow
2. obsolete to indicate or signify; mean
[C15: from Latin portendere to indicate, foretell; related to prōtendere to stretch out]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

por•tend

(pɔrˈtɛnd, poʊr-)

v.t.
1. to indicate in advance, as an omen does; foreshadow or presage.
2. to signify; mean.
[1400–50; < Latin portendere=por- forth, forward + tendere to stretch]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

portend


Past participle: portended
Gerund: portending

Imperative
portend
portend
Present
I portend
you portend
he/she/it portends
we portend
you portend
they portend
Preterite
I portended
you portended
he/she/it portended
we portended
you portended
they portended
Present Continuous
I am portending
you are portending
he/she/it is portending
we are portending
you are portending
they are portending
Present Perfect
I have portended
you have portended
he/she/it has portended
we have portended
you have portended
they have portended
Past Continuous
I was portending
you were portending
he/she/it was portending
we were portending
you were portending
they were portending
Past Perfect
I had portended
you had portended
he/she/it had portended
we had portended
you had portended
they had portended
Future
I will portend
you will portend
he/she/it will portend
we will portend
you will portend
they will portend
Future Perfect
I will have portended
you will have portended
he/she/it will have portended
we will have portended
you will have portended
they will have portended
Future Continuous
I will be portending
you will be portending
he/she/it will be portending
we will be portending
you will be portending
they will be portending
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been portending
you have been portending
he/she/it has been portending
we have been portending
you have been portending
they have been portending
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been portending
you will have been portending
he/she/it will have been portending
we will have been portending
you will have been portending
they will have been portending
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been portending
you had been portending
he/she/it had been portending
we had been portending
you had been portending
they had been portending
Conditional
I would portend
you would portend
he/she/it would portend
we would portend
you would portend
they would portend
Past Conditional
I would have portended
you would have portended
he/she/it would have portended
we would have portended
you would have portended
they would have portended
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Verb1.portend - indicate by signsportend - indicate by signs; "These signs bode bad news"
threaten - to be a menacing indication of something:"The clouds threaten rain"; "Danger threatens"
bespeak, betoken, indicate, signal, point - be a signal for or a symptom of; "These symptoms indicate a serious illness"; "Her behavior points to a severe neurosis"; "The economic indicators signal that the euro is undervalued"
foreshow - foretell by divine inspiration
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

portend

verb foretell, promise, threaten, indicate, predict, point to, herald, warn of, omen, bode, foreshadow, bespeak, augur, harbinger, presage, forewarn, betoken, prognosticate, adumbrate, foretoken, vaticinate (rare) Comets, in Western tradition, always portend doom and gloom.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

portend

verb
To give an indication of something in advance:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

portend

[pɔːˈtend] VT (liter) → augurar, presagiar
what does this portend?¿qué significa esto?
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

portend

[pɔːrˈtɛnd] vtprésager, annoncer
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

portend

vt (form)bedeuten, hindeuten auf (+acc); what does this portend?was hat das zu bedeuten?
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

portend

[pɔːˈtɛnd] vt (frm) → far presagire
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in classic literature ?
He stood still, and asked himself what this circumstance might portend. It was so beautiful a day that he was loth to forecast evil, yet something must perforce have happened at the cottage, and that of a decisive nature; for here was Miss M'Glashan on her travels, with a small patrimony in brown paper parcels, and the old lady's bearing implied hot battle and unqualified defeat.
The knights heard this uncommon document read from end to end, and then gazed upon each other in silent amazement, as being utterly at a loss to know what it could portend. De Bracy was the first to break silence by an uncontrollable fit of laughter, wherein he was joined, though with more moderation, by the Templar.
Instantly I sprang toward it to wrench it open again, for something in the uncanny movement of the thing and the tense and almost palpable silence of the chamber seemed to portend a lurking evil lying hidden in this rock-bound chamber within the bowels of the Golden Cliffs.
Most of them shuddered with superstitious dread of what it might portend. "She totin' Cheri!" some of them shouted.
Almost in the center of it, above the Prechistenka Boulevard, surrounded and sprinkled on all sides by stars but distinguished from them all by its nearness to the earth, its white light, and its long uplifted tail, shone the enormous and brilliant comet of 18l2- the comet which was said to portend all kinds of woes and the end of the world.
What did all this portend, and what portended the swift hoisting-up of Monsieur Gabelle behind a servant on horseback, and the conveying away of the said Gabelle (double-laden though the horse was), at a gallop, like a new version of the German ballad of Leonora?
It portended that there was one stone face too many, up at the chateau.
Her absence, however, portended some danger, and he feared that it was connected with Will Stutely.
The soil is becoming hilly and portends mountains not far off."
Jackson; adding: "Poor girl!" in the tone of one who, while enjoying the memory, had fully understood at the time what the sight portended.
His tail shot suddenly erect and at the same instant the wary ape-man, knowing all too well what the signal portended, grasped the remainder of the deer's hind quarter between his teeth and leaped into a nearby tree as Numa charged him with all the speed and a sufficient semblance of the weight of an express train.
I did remark, to be sure, that mounting the stairs made her breathe very quick; that the least sudden noise set her all in a quiver, and that she coughed troublesomely sometimes: but I knew nothing of what these symptoms portended, and had no impulse to sympathise with her.