Foresay

//fɔː(ɹ)ˈseɪ// verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To say beforehand; predict; foretell. archaic, transitive
  2. 2
    To decree; ordain; appoint. transitive

    "Let ordinance / Come as the gods foresay it."

Synonyms

All synonyms
foretellforetellordainordain

Example

More examples

"Let ordinance / Come as the gods foresay it."

Etymology

From Middle English foresayen, foreseyen, foreseggen (found only in past participle foresaid), from Old English foreseċġan (“to foresay, foretell, predict, announce, mention beforehand”), equivalent to fore- + say. Cognate with Dutch voorzeggen (“to foretell, presage”), Old Danish foresige, Swedish föresäga, förutsäga (“to predict”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.