Word.ws English Dictionary

foreknow

/ˌfɔːˈnəʊ/US/ˌfɔɹˈnoʊ/

foreknow verb: to have knowledge of beforehand.

Verb

foreknow (third-person singular simple present foreknows, present participle foreknowing, simple past foreknew, past participle foreknown)

  1. To have knowledge of beforehand.
    • God hath not reiected his people vvhich he foreknevve.1582, The Nevv Testament of Iesus Christ: […] (Douay–Rheims Bible), Rheims: Iohn Fogny, →OCLC, Romanes 11:2, page 409
    • Wiſdom…is to a man an infinite Treaſure, for ſhe is the Breath of the Power of God, and a pure Influence that floweth from the Glory of the Almighty; ſhe is the Brightneſs of Eternal Light, and an undefiled Mirror of the Majeſty of God, and an Image of his Goodneſs; ſhe teacheth us Soberneſs and...1652, Eugenius Philalethes, The Fame and Confeſſion of the Fraternity of R: C: Commonly, of the Roſie Croſs; with a Præface annexed thereto, and a ſhort Declaration of their Phyſicall Work (London...

Forms of foreknow

third-person singular presentforeknows
present participleforeknowing
pastforeknew
past participleforeknown

Origin of foreknow

From Middle English forknowen (since Chaucer), a calque from praescio equivalent to fore- + know. Replaced Old English fōrwitan, fōrewitan (“to foreknow”).

Words formed from foreknow

Words that rhyme with foreknow

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about foreknow

What does foreknow mean?
Foreknow means to have knowledge of beforehand.
What part of speech is foreknow?
Foreknow is a verb.
How do you pronounce foreknow?
Foreknow is pronounced /ˌfɔːˈnəʊ/ (UK).
What is the past tense of foreknow?
The past tense of foreknow is foreknew.

Words near foreknow in the dictionary

  1. forekidney
  2. forekidneys
  3. foreking
  4. forekings
  5. foreknew
  6. foreknow
  7. foreknowable
  8. foreknower
  9. foreknowers
  10. foreknowing
  11. foreknowingly

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: foreknow (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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