English
presage
Presage comes from Latin praesāgium ‘premonition, presentiment, foreboding, presage’, from sāgiō ‘to perceive quickly or keenly with the senses’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- ‘to trace, follow’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂g-‘to trace, follow’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*séh₂gyeti‘to seek out, give a sign, track’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sāgiōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsāgiō‘to perceive quickly or keenly with the senses’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraesāgio‘to forebode’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraesāgium‘premonition, presentiment, foreboding, presage’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500presage
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1786same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂g-‘to trace, follow’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*séh₂gyeti‘to seek out, give a sign, track’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sāgiōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsāgiō‘to perceive quickly or keenly with the senses’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraesāgio‘to forebode’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraesāgium‘premonition, presentiment, foreboding, presage’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500presage
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1786same form
Earliest quotation: a. 1786, Richard Glover, Book the Twenty-eighth: “Speak frankly, Mirzes—nor believe thy words, / Whatever black…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- ‘to trace, follow’
sake, sucker, hegemony, beseech, saya, hegemon, 19 more
through Proto-Indo-European *séh₂gyeti ‘to seek out, give a sign, track’
through Latin sāgiō ‘to perceive quickly or keenly with the senses’
Today it means
noun A warning of a future event; an omen.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- / presage