different between foretell vs betoken

English

Etymology

c. 1300, from Middle English foretellen, equivalent to fore- +? tell.

Pronunciation

• enPR: fôr-t?l?, IPA^(key): /f???t?l/
  • (General Australian) IPA^(key): [fo?.?te?]
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): [f??.?t??]
  • (US) IPA^(key): [f??.?t??]
• Rhymes: -?l
• Hyphenation: fore?tell

Verb

foretell (third-person singular simple present foretells, present participle foretelling, simple past and past participle foretold)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To predict; to tell (the future) before it occurs; to prophesy.
2. (transitive) To tell (a person) of the future.

Synonyms

• foresay
• forespeak

Derived terms

• foretellable
• foreteller

Related terms

• foretale

Translations

See also

• forecast
• foresee
• forewarn

References

• foretell in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• foretell in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• toll-free, tollfree

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.