portent - Definitions from Dictionary.com

7 results for: portent

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

por·tent

Audio Help [pawr-tent, pohr-] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	an indication or omen of something about to happen, esp. something momentous.

2.	threatening or disquieting significance: an occurrence of dire portent.

3.	a prodigy or marvel.

[Origin: 1555–65; < L portentum sign, token, n. use of neut. of portentus, ptp. of portendere to portend

]

—Synonyms 1. augury, warning. See sign. 2. import.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
portent

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

por·tent Audio Help (pôr'těnt', pōr'-) Pronunciation Key
n.

An indication of something important or calamitous about to occur; an omen.
Prophetic or threatening significance: signs full of portent.
Something amazing or marvelous; a prodigy.

[Latin portentum, from neuter past participle of portendere, to portend; see portend.]

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Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
portent

1563, from M.Fr. portente, from L. portentum "a sign, omen," from neut. of portentus, pp. of portendre (see portend). Portentous is recorded from c.1540.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

portent
noun
a sign of something about to happen; "he looked for an omen before going into battle" [syn: omen]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
portent [ˈpoːtent] noun

something usually strange and remarkable that warns of some future happening
Example: strange signs and portents

Arabic:	نَذيرُ شُؤْم
Chinese (Simplified):	预兆，不祥之兆，征兆
Chinese (Traditional):	預兆，不祥之兆，徵兆
Czech:	předzvěst, zlé znamení
Danish:	varsel
Dutch:	voorteken
Estonian:	enne
Finnish:	enne
French:	présage
German:	das Vorzeichen
Greek:	οιωνός
Hungarian:	(baljós) előjel
Icelandic:	fyrirboði
Indonesian:	firasat
Italian:	presagio

Japanese:	前兆
Korean:	전조, 조짐
Latvian:	(ļaunu vēstoša) zīme; pareģojums
Lithuanian:	(pranašingas) ženklas
Norwegian:	(for)varsel, tegn
Polish:	znak, wróżba
Portuguese (Brazil):	presságio
Portuguese (Portugal):	mau agouro
Romanian:	prevestire
Russian:	предзнаменование
Slovak:	predzvesť, zlé znamenie
Slovenian:	znamenje
Spanish:	presagio, augurio
Swedish:	förebud, varsel, järtecken
Turkish:	belirti, alâmet

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Portent

Por*tent"\ (?; 277), n. [L. portentum. See Portend.] That which portends, or foretoken; esp., that which portends evil; a sign of coming calamity; an omen; a sign. --Shak.

My loss by dire portents the god foretold. --Dryden.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day Archive - Cite This Source - Share This

portent

portent was Word of the Day on November 18, 2003.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

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