Library / English Dictionary

PORTENT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A sign of something about to happen

Example:

he looked for an omen before going into battle

Synonyms:

omen; portent; presage; prodigy; prognostic; prognostication

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("portent" is a kind of...):

augury; foretoken; preindication; sign (an event that is experienced as indicating important things to come)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "portent"):

auspice (a favorable omen)

foreboding (an unfavorable omen)

death knell (an omen of death or destruction)

Derivation:

portend (indicate, as with a sign or an omen)

portentous (ominously prophetic)

portentous (of momentous or ominous significance)

Credits