BETOKEN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does betoken mean? 

• BETOKEN (verb)
  The verb BETOKEN has 2 senses:

1. be a signal for or a symptom of

2. indicate, as with a sign or an omen

  Familiarity information: BETOKEN used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BETOKEN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they betoken    ... he / she / it betokens   
Past simple: betokened   
Past participle: betokened   
-ing form: betokening   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be a signal for or a symptom of

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

bespeak; betoken; indicate; point; signal

Context example:

The economic indicators signal that the euro is undervalued

Hypernyms (to "betoken" is one way to...):

tell (let something be known)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "betoken"):

augur; auspicate; betoken; bode; forecast; foreshadow; foretell; omen; portend; predict; prefigure; presage; prognosticate (indicate, as with a sign or an omen)

mark (designate as if by a mark)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Indicate, as with a sign or an omen

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

augur; auspicate; betoken; bode; forecast; foreshadow; foretell; omen; portend; predict; prefigure; presage; prognosticate

Context example:

These signs bode bad news

Hypernyms (to "betoken" is one way to...):

bespeak; betoken; indicate; point; signal (be a signal for or a symptom of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "betoken"):

threaten (to be a menacing indication of something)

foreshow (foretell by divine inspiration)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

 Context examples 

They did not have it in their souls to know beauty, or they would have known that those shining eyes and that glowing face betokened youth's first vision of love.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

She made a hasty gesture with her hand, as if to entreat my patience and my silence, and turned towards London, whence, as her dress betokened, she had come expeditiously on foot.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Holmes sat silently, with his head thrown back and his eyes closed, in an attitude which might seem listless to a stranger, but which I knew betokened the most intense self-absorption.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

For Amy's face was full of the soft brightness which betokens a peaceful heart, her voice had a new tenderness in it, and the cool, prim carriage was changed to a gentle dignity, both womanly and winning.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

In the alchemy of his brain, trigonometry and mathematics and the whole field of knowledge which they betokened were transmuted into so much landscape.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

On the other side was a stately stone mansion, plainly betokening every sort of comfort and luxury, from the big coach house and well-kept grounds to the conservatory and the glimpses of lovely things one caught between the rich curtains.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)