foresee - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English foreseen, forseen, from Old English foresēon; equivalent to fore- +‎ see. Similar formations in Dutch voorzien, German vorsehen, Latin prōvideō, (whence provide and purvey), Ancient Greek πρόοιδα (próoida), Polish przewidzieć, Russian провидеть (providetʹ).

foresee (third-person singular simple present foresees, present participle foreseeing, simple past foresaw, past participle foreseen)

  1. To perceive (a situation or event) in advance.
    • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 8:
      Ariel. My Maſter through his Art foreſees the danger
      That you (his friend) are in, and ſends me forth
      (For elſe his proiect dies) to keepe them liuing.
    • 1957 September, M. D. Greville and G. O. Holt, “Railway Development in Manchester—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 615:
      One might imagine that the directors foresaw the somewhat uninspiring appearance of the future Manchester stations, and decided to start as it was intended to go on.
    • 2007 February 6, Danny Hakim, quoting Kathleen B. Hogan, “Two Misdemeanor Charges in Lake George Capsizing”, in The New York Times‎[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 November 2022:
      "If you foresee the event and you go forward, then you are criminally negligent," she said, adding, "This was a boat that navigated on the waters of Lake George since 1979. In terms of criminal negligence, there clearly wasn't the foreseeability that there may be in civil negligence."
  2. (obsolete) To provide.
    • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Vicissitude of Things”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
      Great shoals of people, which go on to populate, without foreseeing means of life.

to anticipate