predictive

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin praedictīvus (“foretelling, prognosticating”), recorded from the 5th century,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} formed from praedictus, the past participle of praedīcō (“to foretell, give warning of”), with the suffix -īvus.^[2][4] The Latin verb is from prae- (“before”) and dīcō (“to say”),^[2][3] which Etymonline traces to Proto-Indo-European *deik- (“to show”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having the quality of predicting the future; prophetic, or foretelling a later event: 1637, in Robert Monro's account of his expedition with a Scots regiment.^[2] Etymonline and Dictionary.com date the word to the 1650s.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word described both a prophecy and a sign that points to a later event, often followed by of.^[2][5] Before 1831 Jeremy Bentham used it in grammar for the future tense when it states only what will happen, with no intention or obligation on the part of the subject.^[2] Late 20th-century technology added two senses: from 1982, systems that guess the word being typed from the text already entered, the source of predictive text on mobile phones,^[2][7] and since 1988, in photography, an autofocus that keeps a moving object in focus.^[2]

Timeline

• 1637 – prophetic; foretelling a future event.^[2]
• before 1831 – grammar, of the future tense.^[2]
• 1982 – computing, predicting the text being entered.^[2]
• 1988 – photography, of autofocus that follows a moving subject.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to prediction, or used to predict what will happen: a predictive model of traffic flow.^[7][4][2]
2. Pointing to a later outcome; indicative: symptoms predictive of a slow recovery.^[5][2]
3. Of a phone or computer system, suggesting the word being typed from the first letters: predictive text.^[7][2]
4. (grammar) Of the future tense, stating what will happen without implying intention or obligation.^[2]
5. (photography) Of an autofocus, keeping a moving subject in focus.^[2]

Word family

• predictively
• predictiveness
• nonpredictive
• unpredictive

Related words

• predict
• prediction
• dictum
• diction

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins