different between foreshow vs betoken

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English foreschewen, from Old English foresc?awian (“to foreshow, foresee; preordain, decree, appoint; provide, furnish with”), equivalent to fore- +? show. Cognate with Dutch voorschouwen, German vorschauen.

Alternative forms

• foreshew

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /f??????/, /f??????/

Verb

foreshow (third-person singular simple present foreshows, present participle foreshowing, simple past foreshowed, past participle foreshown)

1. (transitive, archaic) To show in advance; to foretell, predict.
2. (transitive, obsolete) To foreshadow or prefigure.
   • 1841, Francis Bacon, Basil Montagu, The Works of Francis Bacon, Lord Chancellor of England:

     But if the rays break forth out of the middle, or dispersed, and its exterior body, or the out parts of it, be covered with clouds, it foreshows great tempests both of wind and rain.

Etymology 2

From fore- +? show.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?f?????/, /?f?????/

Noun

foreshow (plural foreshows)

1. (obsolete) A manifestation in advance; a prior indication.
   • , Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.139:

     The fore-shew of their inclination whilest they are young is so uncertaine […] that it is very hard, (yea for the wisest) to ground any certaine judgement […].

English

Etymology

From Middle English bitoknen, bitacnen, from Old English bet?cnian (“to betoken, signify, designate”). Equivalent to be- +? token. Cognate with Dutch betekenen (“to mean, signify”), German bezeichnen (“to call, designate”), Swedish beteckna (“to represent, designate, indicate”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b??to?.k?n/
• Rhymes: -??k?n

Verb

betoken (third-person singular simple present betokens, present participle betokening, simple past and past participle betokened)

1. (transitive) To signify by some visible object; show by signs or tokens.
   • 1557: Robert Recorde, The whetstone of witte, whiche is the seconde parte of Arithmetike?:?containyng the xtraction of Rootes?:?The Cossike practise, with the rule of Equation?:?and the workes of Surde Nombers.^?, page unknown (Ihon Kyngstone)

     There be other 2 signes in often use of which the first is made thus?+?and betokeneth more?:?the other is thus made?–?and betokeneth lesse.
2. (transitive) To foreshow by present signs; indicate something future by that which is seen or known.
   • 1853: Virgil, Charles Anthon, LL.D. [tr.], Æneïd of Virgil: With English Notes, Critical and Explanatory, a Metrical Clavis: And an Historical, Geographical, and Mythological Index, page 474 (Harper & Brothers, 329 & 331 Pearl Street, Franklin Square, New York)

     “?Ah?!?hospitable land, thou (nevertheless) betokenest war,” i.?e., although hospitable, thou nevertheless betokenest war.?—?Bello.

Synonyms

• (signify): indicate, mark, note
• (foreshow): portend, presage, forebode

Translations

References

• betoken in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.