• (British) IPA: /pɔːˈtɛnd/
• (America) IPA: /pɔɹˈtɛnd/

portend (portends, present participle portending; past and past participle portended)

1. (transitive) To serve as a warning or omen of.
   • 1671, John Milton, “Book the Fourth”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: Printed by J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398 ↗:

     A kingdom they portend thee, but what kingdom, / Real or allegoric, I discern not; Nor when: eternal sure--as without end,

2. (transitive) To signify; to denote.

   Let it be known that the Rapture portends the End of Days.

• foreshadow
• presage

• portent
• portentive
• portentous

• French: annoncer, présager
• German: ankündigen, vorbedeuten, vorhersagen
• Russian: предвеща́ть
• Spanish: presagiar

• German: deuten, hindeuten, hinweisen,, bedeuten
• Russian: предзнамено́вывать
• Spanish: significar