Etymograph

English

foretoken

Foretoken comes from Old English foretācen ‘foretoken, presage, prognostic, prodigy, sign,…’, from Proto-Germanic *taikną ‘indicator, indication’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deyḱ-1‘to show, indicate, point out, declare’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*taikną2‘indicator, indication’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*taikn3‘sign, token, symbol’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150tācn4as tācen‘sign’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150foretācen5as foretācn‘foretoken, presage, prognostic, prodigy, sign, wonder’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500foretokne5
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590foretoken5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *taikną
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *taikn
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English tacn
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Old English foretacen
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English foretoken
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Philip Sidney, The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia: “Therefore know you Gentlemen (to whom from my harte…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deyḱ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *taikną‘to show, indicate, point out, declare’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*taiknąWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *taikn‘indicator, indication’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*taiknWiktionary, Old English tacn‘sign, token, symbol’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150tācnWiktionary, Old English foretacenas tācen‘sign’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150foretācenWiktionary, English foretokenas foretācn‘foretoken, presage, prognostic, prodigy, sign, wonder’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500foretokneWiktionary, English foretoken
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590foretokenWiktionary, English foretoken. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Philip Sidney, The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia: “Therefore know you Gentlemen (to whom from my harte…”

Formed from fore- + token

Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘before, formerly’

Proto-Germanic *fura- ‘before, in front of, for’

Proto-West Germanic *forē- ‘before, in front of, fore-, pre-’

English fore-

Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- ‘to show, instruct, teach’

Proto-Germanic *taikną ‘indicator, symbol, sign’

Proto-West Germanic *taikn ‘sign, token, symbol’

Old English tācn ‘sign, symbol’

Middle English token

English token

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- ‘to show, indicate, point out, declare’

teach, index, indicate, indication, dictionary, predict, toe, digit, addict, indicator, dictate, indicative, syndicate, contradiction, contradict, dictator, ditto, diction, predicate, ditty, dictum, interdict, syndicalism, dict, tache, indicia, 34 more

Another origin of foretoken

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150foretācnian‘to foreshow’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*foretoknenreconstructed
  3. Englishtodayforetoken

Today it means

noun A prognostic; a premonitory sign; warning or presentiment.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “foretoken”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *taikną, Proto-West Germanic *taikn, Old English tacn, Old English foretacen. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- / foretoken

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