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# portent

«portent» in Mova's school dictionary: **A sign or warning that something important, often bad, is…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a portent, portents)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (formal) A sign or warning that something important, often bad, is going to happen. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/portent/#m1)

2) (literary) A strange or wonderful thing that seems to carry a message. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/portent/#m2)

3) (formal) Serious meaning or importance: «a matter of great portent». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/portent/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

Found in fairy tales, myths and old stories: a comet, a black cat or a storm seen as a portent of doom. Science teaches that such signs do not really foretell the future. Phrases: «a portent of doom», «an evil portent», «portents of change».

### examples

- The villagers believed the comet was a portent of war. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/portent/#x1)
- Dark clouds rolled in like a portent of the storm to come. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/portent/#x2)
- In the story, a raven on the roof was taken as a portent. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/portent/#x3)
- The first falling leaves are a portent of autumn. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/portent/#x4)
- Ancient kings asked wise men to read the portents in the sky. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/portent/#x5)
- Scientists explain eclipses; they are not portents of anything. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/portent/#x6)
- The empty classroom felt like a portent of trouble. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/portent/#x7)
- Finnian loomed on him as a portent and a terror; but he had no fear of Time. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/portent/#x8)

### note

Countable: «a portent», «portents». Related adjective «portentous» (seeming to warn of something; also pompous and overly serious). Stress on the first part: POR-tent. Superstition: an eclipse or a black cat is not a real warning; that is a myth.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «portent» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/portent/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.