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forescent. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
forescent, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
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English
Etymology
From fore- + scent.
Pronunciation
- (verb) IPA(key): /ˌfɔː(ɹ)ˈsɛnt/
- (noun) IPA(key): /ˈfɔː(ɹ)ˌsɛnt/
Verb
forescent (third-person singular simple present forescents, present participle forescenting, simple past and past participle forescented)
- To detect the scent of (something) before it is present.
1849, John Griffith Mansford, Anno Mundi 1656, and Anno Domini 1849, London: Nisbet & Co., page 6:birds and wild animals forescent a storm, or an earthquake
- 1916, William Ellery Leonard (translator), Of the Nature of Things by Lucretius, London: J.M. Dent, Book 4, pp. 160-161,
- the white goose,
The saviour of the Roman citadel,
Forescents afar the odour of mankind.
- (figuratively) To detect or become aware of (something) in advance.
- Synonyms: anticipate, foresee
- 1872, Henry Norman Hudson, Shakespeare: His Life, Art, and Characters, Boston: Ginn & Company, Othello, the Moor of Venice, p. 462,
- the sagacity with which Iago feels and forescents his way into Roderigo
- 1915, Frederick Goodyear, letter to F.W. Leith Ross in Letters and Remains: 1887-1917, London: McBride, Nast, 1920, p. 94,
- Possibly we instinctively forescented the war.
Noun
forescent (plural forescents)
- A scent that indicates something in advance.
- Coordinate term: afterscent
1920, anonymous translator, St. Bernard’s Sermons on the Canticle of Canticles, Dublin: Browne & Nolan, Volume 2, Sermon 60, p. 190:The patriarchs and prophets inhaled the sweet odour of Christ, Who was preordained to be born and to die in the flesh; yet they did not then give forth the same odour, because they could not exhibit in the flesh Him of Whom they had a fore-scent in the spirit.
1986, Charles R. Forker, chapter 1, in Skull Beneath the Skin: The Achievement of John Webster, Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, page 79:An allusion to the garlic breath of the groundlings provides a forescent of the evil smells that pervade the Genoan court.
1998, Niall Williams, Four Letters of Love, New York: Warner Books, Part 7, Chapter 4, pp. 237-238:She opened the door on the night and felt the sudden damp forescent of autumn brush past her.
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