forescent
/ˌfɔː(ɹ)ˈsɛnt/
forescent verb: to detect the scent of (something) before it is present.
Verb
forescent (third-person singular simple present forescents, present participle forescenting, simple past and past participle forescented)
- To detect the scent of (something) before it is present.
- birds and wild animals forescent a storm, or an earthquake1849, John Griffith Mansford, Anno Mundi 1656, and Anno Domini 1849, London: Nisbet & Co., page 6
- […] the white goose,
The saviour of the Roman citadel,
Forescents afar the odour of mankind.1916, Lucretius, translated by William Ellery Leonard, Of the Nature of Things, London: J.M. Dent, Book 4, pp. 160-161
- To detect or become aware of (something) in advance.
- the sagacity with which Iago feels and forescents his way into Roderigo1872, Henry Norman Hudson, Shakespeare: His Life, Art, and Characters, Boston: Ginn & Company, Othello, the Moor of Venice, p. 462
- Possibly we instinctively forescented the war.1915, Frederick Goodyear, letter to F.W. Leith Ross in Letters and Remains: 1887-1917, London: McBride, Nast, 1920, p. 94
- Synonyms:
- anticipate, foresee
Noun
forescent (plural forescents)
- A scent that indicates something in advance.
- an appalling forescent of his own near approaching discomfiture1832, [Isaac Taylor], “chapter 13”, in Saturday Evening. […], London: Holdsworth and Ball, →OCLC, page 229
- The patriarchs and prophets inhaled the sweet odour of Christ, Who was preordained to be born and to die in the flesh; yet they did not then give forth the same odour, because they could not exhibit in the flesh Him of Whom they had a fore-scent in the spirit.1920, anonymous translator, St. Bernard’s Sermons on the Canticle of Canticles, Dublin: Browne & Nolan, Volume 2, Sermon 60, p. 190
Examples of forescent in a sentence
- An allusion to the garlic breath of the groundlings provides a forescent of the evil smells that pervade the Genoan court.1986, Charles R. Forker, chapter 1, in Skull Beneath the Skin: The Achievement of John Webster, Carbondale: Southern Illinois University...
- She opened the door on the night and felt the sudden damp forescent of autumn brush past her.1998, Niall Williams, Four Letters of Love, New York: Warner Books, Part 7, Chapter 4, pp. 237-238:
Synonyms of forescent
Forms of forescent
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | forescents |
| present participle | forescenting |
| past participle | forescented |
| past | forescented |
| Noun | |
| plural | forescents |
Origin of forescent
From fore- + scent.
Questions about forescent
- What does forescent mean?
- Forescent means to detect the scent of (something) before it is present.
- How do you use forescent in a sentence?
- An allusion to the garlic breath of the groundlings provides a forescent of the evil smells that pervade the Genoan court.
- What part of speech is forescent?
- Forescent can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce forescent?
- Forescent is pronounced /ˌfɔː(ɹ)ˈsɛnt/.
- What is the past tense of forescent?
- The past tense of forescent is forescented.
Words near forescent in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: forescent (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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Cite this entry: “forescent.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/forescent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.