Word
predict
Phoneticspre·dict
US/pɹiˈdɪkt/
UK/pɹɪdˈɪkt/
Definitions
01to forecast the future
v. to say that an event will happen in the future.
v. to state that a specific event will happen in the future based on current knowledge or reasoning.
“It is difficult to predict the weather more than a few days in advance.”
“Economists failed to predict the sudden market crash despite several warning signs in the housing sector.”
Academic · General-service
Usage
Often followed by a noun phrase or a 'that' clause.
Pitfall
The weather man predicted about a storm.
The weather man predicted a storm.
The verb 'predict' is transitive and takes a direct object; do not use the preposition 'about'.
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Antonyms
02to aim a weapon
v. to aim a weapon at a moving target by calculating where it will be.
v. to direct a ranged weapon against a target using a predictor device to calculate lead and elevation.
“The system was designed to predict the path of incoming missiles.”
“Advanced fire-control systems are required to predict the trajectory of supersonic aircraft with sufficient accuracy for interception.”
Technical
Usage
Used primarily in technical military contexts regarding ballistics.
Etymology
Early 17th century, from Latin praedīcō (“to mention beforehand”) (perfect passive participle praedictus), from prae- (“before”) + dīcō (“to say”). Equivalent to Germanic forespeak, foretell, and foresay.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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englishreference.com/q/predict