portend
/pɔːˈtɛnd/US/pɔɹˈtɛnd/
portend verb: to serve as a warning or omen of.
Verb
portend (third-person singular simple present portends, present participle portending, simple past and past participle portended)
- To serve as a warning or omen of.
- A kingdom they portend thee, but what kingdom, / Real or allegoric, I discern not; Nor when: eternal sure--as without end,1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 4
- To signify; to denote.
- Let it be known that the Rapture portends the End of Days.
- How alive these poems are with the visual specifics of what he so closely observes, how full of elegance, terror and hope. They portend a poet of major craft, of deep feeling, and of fine intelligence.1982 April 10, Jane Barnes, “Terror and Hope”, in Gay Community News, page 10
portend meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada
portend in Tamil
- முன்குறி காட்டு, அபசகுனமாகு, நிமித்தம் காட்டு, எச்சரிக்கை அறிகுறி காட்டு
portend in Urdu
- فال نکالنا
portend in Malayalam
- മുൻകൂട്ടി അനിഷ്ടം സൂചിപ്പിക്കുക, ദുർലക്ഷണമായിരിക്കുക, സൂചിപ്പിക്കുക, വരുംകാര്യം മുൻകൂട്ടി പറയുക
portend in Kannada
- ಮುನ್ನೆಚ್ಚರಿಕೆ ಕೊಡು, ಕಣಿಹೇಳು, ನುಡಿಯಾಡು, ಮುನ್ಸೂಚನೆ ಕೊಡು, ಶಕುನ ಹೇಳು
More languagesFewer languages
- portend in Arabic
- أَنْذَرَ ʔanḏara
Synonyms of portend
Forms of portend
| third-person singular present | portends |
|---|---|
| present participle | portending |
| past participle | portended |
| past | portended |
Origin of portend
Borrowed from Latin portendere (“to foretell”), from por- (“forward”) + tendere (“to stretch”).
Words formed from portend
Words that rhyme with portend
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- spend
- suspend
- trend
- ascend
- offend
- pretend
- unbend
- commend
- tend
- amend
- contend
- depend
- lend
- distend
- impend
- recommend
- rend
- shend
- subtend
- tight end
- upend
- wend
- append
- befriend
- blend
- pend
- resend
- transcend
- abend
- comprehend
- entend
- fend
- obtend
- perpend
- unfriend
- vend
- weekend
- when'd
- blende
- defriend
- disrecommend
- emend
- expend
- forfend
- forspend
- freakend
- genetic dead end
- heaven forfend
Questions about portend
- What does portend mean?
- Portend means to serve as a warning or omen of.
- What is portend in Tamil?
- Portend in Tamil is முன்குறி காட்டு, அபசகுனமாகு, நிமித்தம் காட்டு. See Portend meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is portend?
- Portend is a verb.
- How do you pronounce portend?
- Portend is pronounced /pɔːˈtɛnd/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of portend?
- The past tense of portend is portended.
Words near portend in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: portend (page history and authors); portend (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); portend (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); portend (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); portend (Kannada Wiktionary) (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-portend.wav.
Cite this entry: “portend.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/portend. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.