premonition
noun/ˌpriːməˈnɪʃən/ · /ˌprɛ-/
Etymology First use appears c. 1533. From Anglo-Norman premunition, from Ecclesiastical Latin praemonitiōnem (“a forewarning”), form of praemonitiō, from Latin praemonitus, past participle of praemoneō, from prae (“before”) (English pre-) + moneō (“to warn”) (from which English monitor). Compare Germanic forewarning.
1
A clairvoyant or clairaudient experience, such as a dream, which resonates with some event in the future.
2
A strong intuition that something is about to happen (usually something negative, but not exclusively).
- The sinister face of Dr. Bauerstein recurred to me unpleasantly. A vague suspicion of everyone and everything filled my mind. Just for a moment I had a premonition of approaching evil.1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 17:
- Derived terms
- premonitional, premonitionary, premonitory
- Related terms
- postmonition