portend

Everyday

1. (formal) To be a sign or warning that something important, often bad, is going to happen: «Dark clouds portend a storm.» tree →
2. (formal) To mean or point to something in the future. tree →

In the lessons

It is a stiff, bookish word for «be a sign of». In stories and old tales it tells the reader that trouble is coming — a black cat, a comet, a strange silence «portends» disaster. In science lessons we say the signs «suggest» rather than «portend». Phrases: «portend trouble», «portend disaster», «portend change».

Examples

• The howling wind seemed to portend a terrible night. tree →
• In old stories a comet in the sky portended war. tree →
• Falling sales may portend hard times for the shop. tree →
• The sudden quiet in the forest portended danger. tree →
• People once believed that a red sky portended bad weather. tree →
• Nobody knew what the strange letter portended. tree →
• I ordered you to be put to death because I thought your dream portended the loss of my crown. tree →

Note

Formal and literary; in everyday talk say «be a sign of» or «mean». Noun: portent (a sign of the future); adjective: portentous. Many «omens» in stories are superstitions, not science: a black cat does not really portend bad luck.