The meaning of PORTEND is to give an omen or anticipatory sign of. How to use portend in a sentence. Did you know?

PORTENDING definition: 1. present participle of portend 2. to be a sign that something bad is likely to happen in the…. Learn more.

Define portending. portending synonyms, portending pronunciation, portending translation, English dictionary definition of portending. foreshadow as an omen; signify; foretell; forecast; forebode: The skies portend a possible hurricane. Not …

PORTEND definition: 1. to be a sign that something bad is likely to happen in the future: 2. to be a sign that…. Learn more.

Synonyms for PORTENDING: predicting, promising, presaging, calling, foreboding, boding, foretelling, alerting; Antonyms of PORTENDING: relating, describing, reporting, telling, recounting, reciting, narrating

Portend means to show a sign that something calamitous is about to happen. The teetering, tottering, pile of fine china piled up after the dinner party portends an imminent crash of broken plates and dishes. Portend is a verb warning of omens, or bad signs.

to signify; mean. First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin portendere “to point out, indicate, portend,” variant of prōtendere “to extend”; pro- 1, tend 1. Examples have not …

Word forms: 3rd person singular present tense portends, present participle portending, past tense, past participle portended verb If something portends something, it indicates that it is likely to …

Definition of portend verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. portend something to be a sign or warning of something that is going to happen in the future, especially something bad or unpleasant synonym foreshadow. The Oxford Learner’s Thesaurus explains the difference between groups of similar words.

The earliest known use of the noun portending is in the late 1500s. OED's earliest evidence for portending is from 1590, in the writing of Thomas Watson, poet and translator. portending is formed within English, by derivation.