different between portent vs mention

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin portentum, participle of portendere, from portend? (“I predict, I foretell”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?p??t?nt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?p??t?nt/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /?po(?)?t?nt/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /?po?t?nt/

Noun

portent (plural portents)

1. Something that portends an event about to occur, especially an unfortunate or evil event; an omen.
2. A portending; significance

3. Something regarded as portentous; a marvel; prodigy.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:omen

Related terms

• portend
• portentous

Translations

References

Anagrams

• torpent

French

Pronunciation

Verb

portent

1. third-person plural present indicative of porter
2. third-person plural present subjunctive of porter

Latin

Verb

portent

1. third-person plural present active subjunctive of port?

English

Etymology

From Middle English mencioun, mention, from Old French mention, from Latin menti?nem, accusative of menti? (“a mention, calling to mind”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?n??n/
• Rhymes: -?n??n
• Hyphenation: men?tion

Noun

mention (plural mentions)

1. A speaking or notice of anything, usually in a brief or cursory manner. Used especially in the phrase make mention of.

   • I will make mention of thy righteousness.
2. (Internet, plural only) A social media feed, a list of replies or posts mentioning a person.

Derived terms

• mentionable
• mentionless

Translations

Verb

mention (third-person singular simple present mentions, present participle mentioning, simple past and past participle mentioned)

1. To make a short reference to something.
2. (philosophy, linguistics) To utter a word or expression in order to refer to the expression itself, as opposed to its usual referent.
   • 2006, Tony Evans, The Transforming Word: Discovering the Power and Provision of the Bible, Moody Publishers ?ISBN, page 140

     I can illustrate this by mentioning the word lead. Now you have no way of knowing for sure which meaning I have in mind until I give it some context by using it in a sentence.

   • 2009, Lieven Vandelanotte, Speech and Thought Representation in English: A Cognitive-functional Approach, Walter de Gruyter ?ISBN, page 124

     If the verbatimness view derives from the popular notion that DST repeats 'the actual words spoken', a second line of thought takes its cue from Quine's (1940: 23–26, 1960: 146–156) philosophical distinction between words which are “used” vs. words which are merely “mentioned”.

   • 2013, Richard Hanley, South Park and Philosophy: Bigger, Longer, and More Penetrating, Open Court ?ISBN

     If I said rightly, “'Niggers' is a seven letter word,” I would be mentioning the word, and when we write it, we use mention-quotes for this purpose (speech typically lacks quotes, except for the occasional air-quotes). If I said, rightly or wrongly, “Niggers are good athletes,” then I would be using “niggers,” not merely mentioning it.

Synonyms

(make a short reference to something): See Thesaurus:mention

Derived terms

• not to mention
• unmention

Translations

Anagrams

• nontime, omentin

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin menti?, mentionis.

Pronunciation

Noun

mention f (plural mentions)

1. mention (act of mentioning)
2. slogan

Related terms

• mentionner

Further reading

• “mention” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Old French

Alternative forms

• mencion
• mension

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin menti?, mentionis.

Noun

mention f (oblique plural mentions, nominative singular mention, nominative plural mentions)

1. mention (act of mentioning)

See also

• mentevoir