Meanings
- not comparableServing as a warning or premonition.
[…] the captain was plainly too much for the branch, which was drooping toward the water, and emitting sounds premonitory of a smash.
1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard1 more example
Many conditions formerly thought to be purely functional are now known as premonitory evidences of organic disease, and the prognosis must be guarded accordingly.
1928 December 15, Frank J. Hirschboeck, “Treatment of Functional Heart Disease”, in The Journal of the American Medical Association, volume 91, number 24, →DOI, page 1856
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivewarning of future misfortune
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*per-
- Proto-Indo-European*preh₂-
- Proto-Indo-European*préh₂i?
- Proto-Italic*prai
- Latinprae
- Proto-Indo-European*men-
- Proto-Indo-European*monéyeti
- Proto-Italic*man-eje-
- Proto-Italic*moneō
- Latinmoneō
- Latinpraemoneō
- Latinpraemoni(tus)
- Latinpraemonitōrius
- Englishpremonitory
Borrowed from Latin praemonitōrius.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian предупредителен
- предупредителен (predupreditelen)serving as warning
Dutch waarschuwend
- waarschuwendserving as warning
Finnish varoittava
- varoittavaserving as warning
French prémonitoire
- prémonitoireserving as warning
Spanish premonitorio
- premonitorioserving as warning
Cite this entry
premonitory. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/premonitory
“premonitory.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/premonitory. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “premonitory,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/premonitory.
Source: premonitory on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.