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If something portends an event, it is a sign that the event is coming — especially something bad. Dark clouds may portend a storm; a sudden hush in a story may portend trouble. It is a formal, slightly old or literary verb. News and novels use it; friends almost never say it about a late bus. Though actually, it need not be magic: it can simply mean “this looks like the start of X.” The feeling is still heavy. The related noun is portent, an . Grammar: the coming thing is the object — “This portends war,” not “This portends of war.” You also do not use it to mean “I guess” or “I predict”; the subject is the sign, not the speaker.
預示（多半是不好的事）
組成From Latin portendere “to stretch forward, to foretell”: por- “forward” + tendere “to stretch.”
同家族的字
- portentthe noun: a sign that something, often bad, is coming
- portentousthe adjective: looking like a serious omen
- extendshares Latin tendere, to stretch
- tensionshares Latin tendere, to stretch
原始詞典資料2 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
portendverb/pɔːˈtɛnd/
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To serve as a warning or omen of.
- A kingdom they portend thee, but what kingdom, / Real or allegoric, I discern not; Nor when: eternal sure--as without end,
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To signify; to denote.
- Let it be known that the Rapture portends the End of Days.
- How alive these poems are with the visual specifics of what he so closely observes, how full of elegance, terror and hope. They portend a poet of major craft, of deep feeling, and of fine intelligence.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。