foresay
/fɔː(ɹ)ˈseɪ/
foresay verb: to say beforehand; predict; foretell.
Verb
foresay (third-person singular simple present foresays, present participle foresaying, simple past and past participle foresaid)
- To say beforehand; predict; foretell.
- To decree; ordain; appoint.
- Let ordinance / Come as the gods foresay it.1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
Forms of foresay
| third-person singular present | foresays |
|---|---|
| present participle | foresaying |
| past participle | foresaid |
| past | foresaid |
Origin of foresay
From Middle English foresayen, foreseyen, foreseggen (found only in past participle foresaid), from Old English foreseċġan (“to foresay, foretell, predict, announce, mention beforehand”), equivalent to fore- + say. Cognate with Dutch voorzeggen (“to foretell, presage”), Old Danish foresige, Swedish föresäga, förutsäga (“to predict”).
Questions about foresay
- What does foresay mean?
- Foresay means to say beforehand; predict; foretell.
- What part of speech is foresay?
- Foresay is a verb.
- How do you pronounce foresay?
- Foresay is pronounced /fɔː(ɹ)ˈseɪ/.
- What is the past tense of foresay?
- The past tense of foresay is foresaid.
Words near foresay in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: foresay (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-foresay.wav.
Cite this entry: “foresay.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/foresay. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.