Etymograph

English

foresee

Foresee comes from Old English foresēon ‘to see beforehand’, and goes back to sēon.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150sēon1
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150foresēon2‘to see beforehand’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500foreseen2
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611foresee2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English foreseon
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English foresee
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest: “Ariel. My Maſter through his Art foreſees the danger…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150sēonWiktionary, Old English foreseon
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150foresēonWiktionary, English foresee‘to see beforehand’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500foreseenWiktionary, English foresee
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611foreseeWiktionary, English foresee. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest: “Ariel. My Maſter through his Art foreſees the danger…”

Linked words

through Old English sēon

see, oversee

Today it means

verb To perceive (a situation or event) in advance.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “foresee”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old English foreseon. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Old English sēon / foresee

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