Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To be or give a sign of: synonym: indicate.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To signify; mean; denote in words.
- To be a token of; be a visible sign of; give promise of.
- To foreshow by signs; be or furnish a premonition of; indicate the probability of: as, this fact betokens a good result.
- To give evidence of; show.
- Synonyms To signify; presage, portend, augur, bode.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To signify by some visible object; to show by signs or tokens.
- transitive verb To foreshow by present signs; to indicate something future by that which is seen or known.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb
Signify by some visibleobject ; show bysigns ortokens . - verb
Foreshow by present signs;indicate something future by that which is seen or known.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb indicate by signs
- verb be a signal for or a symptom of
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word betoken.
Examples
-
The name, the accompaniments, and the child's expression betoken a rare delicacy of conception.
The Continental Monthly, Vol III, Issue VI, June, 1863 Devoted to Literature and National Policy Various
-
The plan of the city is more or less the geometrically regular one of main and cross-streets running at right angles to each other, and the principal of these are lined with shops, whose windows display luxurious articles of jewellery, clothing, and other effects such as betoken the taste and purchasing power of a wealthy upper class.
Mexico Its Ancient and Modern Civilisation, History, Political Conditions, Topography, Natural Resources, Industries and General Development Martin [Editor] Hume 1919
-
An alternative form of the Indo-European root, again to do with showing or indicating, is *deig-, which appears in the native English words token, betoken, and that venerable one for pointing students down the best path, teach.
The English Is Coming! Leslie Dunton-Downer 2010
-
An alternative form of the Indo-European root, again to do with showing or indicating, is *deig-, which appears in the native English words token, betoken, and that venerable one for pointing students down the best path, teach.
The English Is Coming! Leslie Dunton-Downer 2010
-
This is a tale of a nervous breakdown that may betoken a mental illness such as psychosis.
-
This is a tale of a nervous breakdown that may betoken a mental illness such as psychosis.
-
In addition to having absolutely beautiful photos and easy-to-follow directions, a lot of the recipes in here betoken memories of my mother and I in the kitchen, rolling lumpia, cursing (okay, not really cursing, but grumbling in frustration at least) at siapao dough not rising, steaming puto, etc.
-
The Kansas cyclone that whisks Dorothy into a dreamworld is evoked through vorticist projections the work of Jon Driscoll that betoken chaos in the cosmos.
-
His arms and legs, withered and skinny, betokened extreme age, as well as did their sunburn and scars and scratches betoken long years of exposure to the elements.
Page 1 2010
-
Does that, once the smiles of victory and defeat have faded, betoken a fresh generation of Labour comradeship?
Whatever It Takes: The Real Story of Gordon Brown and New Labour by Steve Richards – review Peter Preston 2010
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.