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To presage is to be a sign that something is coming, especially something bad. Dark clouds may presage a storm; a sudden drop in sales may presage trouble. There is also a noun: a presage of war, a grim presage. It is a literary, slightly old word — news and novels more than the bus. In ordinary talk people say “that’s a bad sign” or “that doesn’t bode well.” Though actually it does not have to be magic. A doctor’s numbers can presage illness the same way an can; the word is about pointing ahead, not about fortune-telling. The “especially bad” flavour is strong, but writers also use it for big change that is not simply evil. Do not reach for it in casual chat unless you want the old, heavy tone.
預示；預兆（文雅、偏不祥）
組成From Middle English, from Latin praesāgium (a foreboding, a sign ahead).
原始詞典資料5 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。
presagenoun/ˈpɹɛsɪdʒ/
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A warning of a future event; an omen.
- Speak frankly, Mirzes—nor believe thy words, / Whatever black preſages they contain, / Subjoin'd to all Trophonius hath foretold, / Can change my firm reſolves, or blunt my ſword.
- 2
An intuition of a future event; a presentiment.
- Glad was I when I reached the other bank. / Now for a better country. Vain presage!
presageverb/ˈpɹɛsɪdʒ/
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To predict or foretell something.
- If I may truſt the flattering truth of ſleepe, / My dreames preſage ſome ioyfull newes at hand : / My boſomes L. ſits lightly in his throne : / And all this day an vnaccuſtom’d ſpirit, / Lifts me aboue the ground with cheatfull thoughts […]
- That brief moment after the election four years ago, when many Americans thought Mr. Obama’s election would presage a new, less fractious political era, now seems very much a thing of the past.
- 2
To make a prediction.
- 3
To have a presentiment of; to feel beforehand; to foreknow.
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。