Anticipate vs Foretell - What's the difference?
anticipate | foretell | Related terms |
To act before (someone), especially to prevent an action.
to take up or introduce (something) prematurely.
to know of (something) before it happens; to expect.
* {{quote-book, year=1907, author=
, title=The Dust of Conflict
, chapter=31 * {{quote-news, year=2011
, date=October 2
, author=Jonathan Jurejko
, title=Bolton 1 - 5 Chelsea
, work=BBC Sport
But surely they did not anticipate the ease with which their team raced into an almost impregnable half-time lead.}} to eagerly wait for (something)
To predict; to tell the future before it occurs; to prophesy.
* Alexander Pope
* C. Middleton
As verbs the difference between anticipate and foretell
is that anticipate is to act before (someone), especially to prevent an action while foretell is to predict; to tell the future before it occurs; to prophesy.anticipate
English
Verb
(anticipat)- To anticipate and prevent the duke's purpose. --R. Hall.
- He would probably have died by the hand of the executioner, if indeed the executioner had not been anticipated by the populace. -- .
- The advocate plans to anticipate a part of her argument.
- to anticipate the pleasures of a visit
- to anticipate the evils of life
- Please anticipate a journey of an hour from your house to the airport
citation, passage=The task was more to Appleby's liking than the one he had anticipated , and it was necessary, since the smaller merchants in Cuba and also in parts of Peninsular Spain have no great confidence in bankers, and prefer a packet of golden onzas or a bag of pesetas to the best accredited cheque.}}
citation, page= , passage=And with Bolton suffering a wretched run of five straight home defeats - their worst run in 109 years - Chelsea fans would have been forgiven for expecting a comfortable win.
But surely they did not anticipate the ease with which their team raced into an almost impregnable half-time lead.}}
- Little Johnny started to anticipate the arrival of Santa Claus a week before Christmas.
Usage notes
The words anticipate'' and ''expect'' both regard some future event as likely to take place. Nowadays they are often used interchangeably although ''anticipate is associated with acting because of an expectation. (E.g. skilled sportsmen anticipate the action and position themselves accordingly.)Synonyms
* (to act before someone) preclude * (to take up or introduce something prematurely) * (to know of something before it manifests) expect, foretaste, foresee * (to eagerly await something) look forward toforetell
English
Verb
- Deeds then undone my faithful tongue foretold .
- Prodigies, foretelling the future eminence and lustre of his character.