presentiment en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Etymology
From French pressentiment, from Middle French, equivalent to pre- + sentiment.
Meanings
-
A premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen.
“No,” replied the girl, “it would not be strange, of course; but for some inexplicable reason I have one of those foolish feminine presentiments that all is not right with Mr. Caldwell. It is the strangest feeling—it is as though I knew that he was not on board the ship.”
1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 106:A man, my good Sir, has seldom an offer of kindness to make to a woman, but she has a presentiment of it some moments before.
1768, Mr. Yorick [pseudonym; Laurence Sterne], A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, […], →OCLC:Oh, those women! They nurse and cuddle their presentiments, and make darlings of their ugliest thoughts, as they do of their deformed children.
1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 13, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:I had a presentiment that this would be my last journey to the Continent for many a long day to come; this, as events turned out, proved all too correct. [This was published posthumously, the author died on 19 November 1942.]
1943 November and December, Chas. S. Lake, “Some Continental Travel Experiences (1922-1939)—V”, in Railway Magazine, page 355:A thousand alarming presentiments of evil to her beloved Catherine from this terrific separation must oppress her heart with sadness, and drown her in tears for the last day or two of their being together; […]
1803 (date written), [Jane Austen], chapter II, in Northanger Abbey; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume I, London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC, page 13:Everything on the surface appeared to be just as it ought to be. And yet Constantin Demiris still felt that vague sense of unease, a presentiment of trouble.
1973, Sidney Sheldon, The Other Side of Midnight:This unfortunate accident has upset me. I have a horrible presentiment that something of the kind may happen to me.
1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter XVIII, in The Picture of Dorian Gray:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| presentiments | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Synonyms
premonition · boding · forefeeling · foreboding
Translations (23)
bg предчувствие (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · az duyğu (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · mk пре́тчувство (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · fr pressentiment (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · eo antaŭsento (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · ko 예감 (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · ja 予感 (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · cmn 預感 /预感 (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · la praesāgium (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · ca pressentiment (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · de Vorahnung (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · sh slutnja (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · az sezmə (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · tl kutob (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · es corazonada (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · ru предчу́вствие (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · az duyma (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · es presentimiento (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · fi aavistus (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · nb forutanelse (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · pl przeczucie (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · it presentimento (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen) · pt pressentimento (a premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen)