to warn beforehand
forewarn
fore·warnWebster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"forewarn." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/forewarn>.
APA Style
forewarn. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/forewarn
forewarn
transitive verb
fore·warned, fore·warn·ing, fore·warnsTo warn in advance.
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"forewarn." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/forewarn>.
APA Style
forewarn. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/forewarn
Verb
(third-person singular simple present forewarns, present participle forewarning, simple past and past participle forewarned)
- To warn in advance.
Usage notes
Some discourage this use, finding the term redundant, as a warning is necessarily in advance. However, considering the word's continued presence in the English language ever since the time of the Anglo-Saxons (when it was first coined), the legitimacy of such complaints is somewhat questionable.
Additionally, many others argue that forewarn is simple emphasis (rather than redundancy), has connotations of “well in advance” (“Watch out!” and “Watch your head!” are warnings, but not forewarnings), and has connotations of “correct prediction”, as in foretell. Both forewarn and warn are well-established words, with forewarn being attested since 1330.
- fore-
- foretell
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"forewarn." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/forewarn>.
APA Style
forewarn. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/forewarn
