(ˈ)fōrˈsē, (ˈ)fȯr-, (ˈ)fōəˈ-, (ˈ)fȯ(ə)ˈ- verb
Etymology: Middle English forseen, foreseen, from Old English foresēon, from fore- + sēon to see — more at see
transitive verb
1. : to see (as a future occurrence or development) as certain or unavoidable : look forward to with assurance
should have foreseen the risk of economic collapse
surely you can foresee what will happen next
2. obsolete : to provide especially for or against
3. obsolete : to see, interview, or consider beforehand
intransitive verb
obsolete : to have or exercise foresight
Synonyms:
foresee , foreknow , divine , apprehend , anticipate can mean to know or prophesy a future event or have knowledge of something prior to its manifestation. foresee in itself gives no hint of how the knowledge is derived or prophecy arrived at
I had not foreseen the black depths of loneliness — Francis Stuart
our failure to foresee all future problems — Vera M. Dean
foreknow , stressing the prior knowledge, usu., though not always, implies supernatural powers or the assistance of them, as divine revelation
he cannot, however, foreknow how his opponent will behave in action — A.J.Toynbee
they were willing to say that God foreknows the sin of those who are not elected to salvation — K.S.Latourette
divine , often indistinguishable from foresee , frequently suggests a gift, the assistance of a special power, or unusual discernment
the military genius is the general who repeatedly succeeds in divining the unpredictable by guesswork or intuition — A.J.Toynbee
impossible for him to divine the complexity and subtlety of these abstract mathematical ideas which were waiting for discovery — A.N.Whitehead
whose talents for divining news and coordinating its coverage remain a matter of perpetual awe — Gladwin Hill
apprehend often implies somewhat less certainty of what is foreseen than the previous words but a stronger emotional effect of the advance knowledge or the suspicion, often suggesting especially a certain anxiety or dread
she apprehended, not without good cause, that his kingdom might soon be extended to her frontiers — T.B.Macaulay
his lips quivered, and she apprehended rather than heard what he said — Ellen Glasgow
anticipate suggests an action of some kind in relation or seeming relation to the thing foreseen or prophesied, as the formulation of an historical hypothesis that makes the future event reasonable or seemingly inevitable, or an experiencing of prior joy or pain on account of the thing foreseen, or an interrelated move as one that forestalls, aggravates, or is motivated by the thing foreseen
his leadership in the state has consisted of anticipating the thinking of the major groups of voters and following what he believes to be public opinion — Frank Tollman
to anticipate charity by preventing poverty — Theodore Bienenstok
sometimes we are able to anticipate a news event … but more often than not news breaks without any warning — S.W.Rumsam
to anticipate the arrival of the next attack — H.G.Wells