Word family noun prediction predictability ≠ unpredictability predictor adjective predictable ≠ unpredictable predictive verb predict adverb predictably ≠ unpredictably
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpredictpre‧dict /prɪˈdɪkt/ ●●● W3 AWL verb [transitive] PREDICTto say that something will happen, before it happens → prediction Sales were five percent lower than predicted.predict (that) Newspapers predicted that Davis would be re-elected.predict whether/what/how etc It is difficult to predict what the long-term effects of the accident will be. As Liz had predicted, the rumours were soon forgotten.be predicted to do something Unemployment is predicted to increase to 700,000 by the end of the year.GRAMMAR: Patterns with predict• You predict that something will happen: Experts predict that the economic situation will improve.• You predicted that something would happen: Experts predicted that the economic situation would improve.• You predict that something might or could happen: No one could have predicted that she might do something like that.• You say that something is predicted to happen: The population is predicted to increase.• You say it is predicted that something will happen: It is predicted that the population will increase. • You say that someone is predicting something. Predict is often used in the progressive: They are predicting another hot summer.THESAURUSpredict to say that something will happen, before it happensIn the future, it may be possible to predict earthquakes.Scientists are trying to predict what the Amazon will look like in 20 years' time.forecast to say what is likely to happen in the future, especially in relation to the weather or the economic or political situationThey’re forecasting a hard winter.Economists forecast that there would be a recession.project to say what the amount, size, cost etc of something is likely to be in the future, using the information you have nowThe world’s population is projected to rise by 45%.can say especially spoken be able to know what will happen in the futureNo one can say what the next fifty years will bring.I can’t say exactly how much it will cost.foretell to say correctly what will happen in the future, using special religious or magical powersThe woman claimed that she had the gift of foretelling the future.It all happened as the prophet had foretold.prophesy to say that something will happen because you feel that it will, or by using special religious or magical powersHe’s one of those people who are always prophesying disaster.The coming of a great Messiah is prophesied in the Bible.He prophesied that the world would end in 2012.Marx prophesied that capitalism would destroy itself.foresee to know that something is going to happen before it happensThey should have foreseen these problems.No one foresaw the outcome of the war.have a premonition to have a strange feeling that something is about to happen, especially something bad, usually just before it happensSuddenly I had a strange premonition of danger ahead. → See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
predict• a major earthquake that no-one had predicted• But not in any form I could have predicted.• Even the amount of time remaining is almost impossible to predict.• The newspapers are predicting a close election.• Most of the papers are predicting an easy victory for the Dallas Cowboys.• In three years, Mr Kern predicts, every major fund group will offer a microcap fund.• But no-one can predict how new joints will last.• Time and again, his detractors predicted that he would cancel elections and referendums.• Some scientists predict that the Earth's temperature will rise by as much as 5° over the next 20 years.• Purdue was not predicted to win any of them.• It is also possible to predict under what pathologic circumstances excretion of free water would be impaired.• Economists are predicting zero growth for the fourth quarter.be predicted to do something• This is due to be announced next month and is predicted to involve job losses and possible plant closures.• The results were predicted to be of two kinds.• Already regional water shortages are causing disruptions and are predicted to become the cause of wars in the near future.• Plant cost inflation is predicted to drop marginally from 6 p.c. last year to an average above 5 p.c. up to 1994.• Unemployment was predicted to increase to 700,000 by the end of 1991.• And that will seem positively bucolic in 2015, when the traffic count is predicted to more than triple.• The figure was predicted to rise to one billion by the year 2000.From Longman Business Dictionarypredictpre‧dict /prɪˈdɪkt/ verb [transitive] to say what you think will happenWall Street had been predicting a quarterly profit of 5 cents per share.predict thatEconomists are predicting that growth will slow.Unemployment is predicted to increase to 700,000 by the end of the year. —prediction noun [countable]The data can be used to make useful economic predictions.→ See Verb tableOrigin predict (1500-1600) Latin past participle of praedicere “to say beforehand” 