From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpresagepres‧age /ˈpresɪdʒ, prəˈseɪdʒ/ verb [transitive] formalWARN to be a sign that something is going to happen, especially something bad The large number of moderate earthquakes that have occurred recently could presage a larger quake soon. —presage noun [countable] a presage of doom→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
presage• The inauguration of the new astronomer royal presaged a drastic reversal of fortune for John Harrison, whom Halley had always admired.• We should hope that it presages a more thorough review of alcohol taxation.• Recent small earthquakes may presage a much larger one.• Yet the Josephite victory presaged no broader attempt to circumscribe royal power.• Alternatively, this finding may presage respiratory failure.• With the benefit of hindsight, the merger presaged the crest of the stock market wave.• They presage the reinvention of Reaganomics for the 21st century.• It was Mellor who salvaged something from the disastrous 1990 Broadcasting Bill, which presaged the widely-ridiculed independent television franchise round.Origin presage (1500-1600) presage “something that shows the future” ((14-21 centuries)), from Latin praesagium, from praesagire, from sagire “to understand clearly” 