Forewarn vs Prognosticate - What's the difference?
forewarn | prognosticate |
To warn in advance.
*{{quote-book, year=1913, author=
, title=Lord Stranleigh Abroad
, chapter=4 To predict or forecast, especially through the application of skill.
To presage, betoken.
And constant stars in them I read such art
As 'Truth and beauty shall together thrive,
If from thyself, to store thou wouldst convert';
Or else of thee this I prognosticate :
'Thy end is truth's and beauty's doom and date.' * *: ...to-morrow I intend lengthening the night till afternoon. I prognosticate for myself an obstinate cold, at least. * 1915 — ,
As verbs the difference between forewarn and prognosticate
is that forewarn is to warn in advance while prognosticate is to predict or forecast, especially through the application of skill.forewarn
English
Verb
(en verb)citation, passage=“I came down like a wolf on the fold, didn’t I??? Why didn’t I telephone??? Strategy, my dear boy, strategy. This is a surprise attack, and I’d no wish that the garrison, forewarned , should escape. …”}}
Usage notes
Some discourage this use, finding the term redundant, as a warning is necessarily in advance. However, considering the word's continued presence in the English language ever since the time of the Anglo-Saxons (when it was first coined), the legitimacy of such complaints is somewhat questionable.The dictionary of disagreeable English, Robert Hartwell Fiske, 2006,p. 160Additionally, many others argue that forewarn' is simple emphasis (rather than redundancy), has connotations of “well in advance” (“Watch out!” and “Watch your head!” are warnings, but not forewarnings), and has connotations of “''correct'' prediction”, as in foretell. Both '''forewarn''' and (term) are well-established words, with ' forewarn being attested since 1330.
Derived terms
* forewarned is forearmedReferences
Forewarning signs”, The Grammarphobia Blog, May 8, 2007
prognosticate
English
Verb
(prognosticat)- Examining the tea-leaves, she prognosticated dark days ahead.
- The bluebells may prognosticate an early spring this year.
Quotations
{{timeline, 1500s=1598, 1800s=1847, 1900s=1915}} * 1598 — *: But from thine eyes my knowledge I derive,And constant stars in them I read such art
As 'Truth and beauty shall together thrive,
If from thyself, to store thou wouldst convert';
Or else of thee this I prognosticate :
'Thy end is truth's and beauty's doom and date.' * *: ...to-morrow I intend lengthening the night till afternoon. I prognosticate for myself an obstinate cold, at least. * 1915 — ,
Voyage Outch. 2 *: All old people and many sick people were drawn, were it only for a foot or two, into the open air, and prognosticated pleasant things about the course of the world.