Presage
noun / verb /ˈpres.ɪdʒ/ — An omen or to portend something to come
Definition
A sign or warning that something — typically bad — is going to happen. As a verb, to presage is to be a warning or portent of a future event.
Beyond the definition
The sensation of knowing something is coming before it arrives. A presage is fate's advance notice, delivered in the language of feeling rather than fact.
Origin & history
From Latin 'praesagium' (foreboding, omen) — from 'praesagire' (to perceive beforehand) — 'prae' (before) + 'sagire' (to perceive keenly). To perceive something before it has happened.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
The calm before the storm was itself a presage — she had learned to read that particular stillness.
Her dream was a presage she didn't recognise until the event it predicted had already passed.
Dark clouds presage rain; that particular quality of light presages something harder to name.
Synonyms
Antonyms
afterthought, retrospect
Related words
Word in the Wild
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Fictional scene
Warning of Future Event
A sudden, brilliant beam of sunlight strikes a single flower as clouds break, creating a moment of dramatic and decisive clarity.
To presage is to be a warning or sign of a future event. The sudden change in the weather, signaled by the intense light striking the flower, acts as a visual analogy: it is a portentous moment that suggests something is about to happen, serving as a warning of change just like a traditional presage.
Image credit: Wordspun · AI-generated conceptual illustration