forewarning
forewarning is the present participle and gerund of forewarn.
Meaning of forewarn
Verb
forewarn (third-person singular simple present forewarns, present participle forewarning, simple past and past participle forewarned)
- To warn in advance.
- And ſure, although it was invented to eaſe his mynde of griefe, there be a number of caveats therein to forewarne other young gentlemen to foreſtand with good government their folowing yl fortunes; […]1576, George Whetstone, “The Ortchard of Repentance: […]”, in The Rocke of Regard, […], London: […] [H. Middleton] for Robert Waley, →OCLC; republished in J[ohn] P[ayne] Collier, editor, The Rocke of...
Noun
forewarning (countable and uncountable, plural forewarnings)
- An advance warning; an omen.
- Beatrice knew his footstep at a distance that might have defied even the acute listener of the fairy tale; and yet, with even such long forewarning, would blush crimson deep on his entrance.1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter V, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 94
- I have never believed, as some people do, in omens and forewarnings, for the dramatic things in my life have generally come upon me as suddenly as a tropical thunder-storm.1936 July, John Buchan, “Lost Gods”, in The Island of Sheep, London: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC, part I (Fosse), page 11
- Synonyms:
- premonition
Synonyms of forewarning
Forms of forewarning
| plural | forewarnings |
|---|
Origin of forewarning
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
From Middle English forwarning, equivalent to forewarn + -ing or fore- + warning. Cognate with German Vorwarnung (“forewarning”), Swedish förvarning (“forewarning”).
Questions about forewarning
- What does forewarning mean?
- Forewarning means an advance warning; an omen.
- What is forewarning the present participle and gerund of?
- Forewarning is the present participle and gerund of forewarn.
- What part of speech is forewarning?
- Forewarning is a noun.
- What is the plural of forewarning?
- The plural of forewarning is forewarnings.
Words near forewarning in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: forewarning (page history and authors); forewarn (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: “forewarning.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/forewarning. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.