- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Borrowing
- First attested
- 1546
- Ultimate origin
- Latin (praedico)
Pronunciation
- IPA: /pɹɪˈdɪkt/[1]
Etymology
It is from Latin praedictus, past participle of praedīcere (“to foretell, give notice”),[2][3][4] from prae-, before, and dīcere, to say (see diction),[2][3][5] perhaps as a back-formation from the earlier prediction (1561).[2][3]
Earliest recorded meaning
To mention earlier in a text: 1546, obsolete;[6] to foretell, 1590 in MWU, 1623 in the OED, the 1620s in Etymonline,[4][6][2] and 1671, in Milton's Paradise Regained, in Barnhart.[3]
Semantic evolution
The intransitive, to prophesy, is from 1652.[6] Of a theory, to have something as a deducible consequence, is from 1961.[6] In gunnery, to direct fire with a predictor is from 1943.[6] A noun predict, a prediction, was used about 1600.[6]
Timeline
- 1546 – to mention before (obsolete).[6]
- 1561 – prediction.[3]
- 1623 – to foretell.[6]
- 1652 – to prophesy (intransitive).[6]
- 1961 – of a theory.[6]
Modern meaning
Verb
- To say in advance what will happen, especially on the basis of knowledge or reasoning; to foretell.
Word family
- predictability
- predictable
- predictably
- predictive
- predictively
- predictiveness
- predictor
- mispredict
Related words
- prediction
- diction
- dictate
- verdict
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry
“Predict.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/predict. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.
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