Meanings
foretoken1
plural foretokens
- A prognostic; a premonitory sign; warning or presentiment.
Therefore know you Gentlemen (to whom from my harte I wish that it may not proue ominous foretoke[n] of misfortune to haue mette with such a miser as I am) that whatsoeuer my sonne (ô God, that trueth binds me to reproch him with the name of my sonne) hath said, is true.
1590, Philip Sidney, The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia, Book II, ch. 10
foretoken2
present singular third person foretokens · participle present foretokening · participle past foretokened · past foretokened
- transitiveTo betoken beforehand; prognosticate; foreshadow; give warning of; presage.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounan event that is experienced as indicating important things to come
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
foretoken · noun
- Old Englishforetācn
- Middle Englishforetokne
- Englishforetoken
From Middle English foretokne, fortacne, from Old English foretācn, foretācen (“foretoken, presage, prognostic, prodigy, sign, wonder”), equivalent to fore- + token. Cognate with Dutch voorteken, German Low German Vörteken, German Vorzeichen.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →foretoken · verb
- Old Englishforetācnian“to foreshow”
- Middle English*foretoknen
- Englishforetoken
From Middle English *foretoknen, fortaknen, from Old English foretācnian (“to foreshow”).
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian предзнаменование
- предзнаменование (predznamenovanie)a premonitory sign; warning or presentiment
Cite this entry
foretoken. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foretoken
“foretoken.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foretoken. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “foretoken,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foretoken.
Source: foretoken on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.