betoken

English

Etymology

From Middle English bitoknen, bitacnen, from Old English betācnian (“to betoken, signify, designate”), from Proto-West Germanic *bitaiknijan. Equivalent to be- +‎ token. Cognate with Dutch betekenen (“to mean, signify”), German bezeichnen (“to call, designate”), Swedish beteckna (“to represent, designate, indicate”) and Danish betegne (“to represent, designate, indicate”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /bɪˈtoʊ.kən/
Audio (UK): (file)
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -əʊkən

Verb

betoken (third-person singular simple present betokens, present participle betokening, simple past and past participle betokened)

(transitive) To signify by some visible object; show by signs or tokens.
- 1557: Robert Recorde, The whetstone of witte, whiche is the seconde parte of Arithmetike : containyng the xtraction of Rootes : The Cossike practise, with the rule of Equation : and the workes of Surde Nombers.^ʀ, page unknown (Ihon Kyngstone)
  There be other 2 signes in often use of which the first is made thus + and betokeneth more : the other is thus made – and betokeneth lesse.
- 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 87:
  During the fight, we ran forward a few paces, but a heavy, rushing flight betokened an easy victory, and the stranger flew away.
- 1964 July, “News and Comment: The Broad Street-Richmond line”, in Modern Railways, page 17:
  The new propaganda for the route, modest though it is in content and extent so far, does seem to betoken a BR effort to improve its carryings and save the service from extinction.
(transitive) To foreshow by present signs; indicate something future by that which is seen or known.
- 1853: Virgil, Charles Anthon, LL.D. [tr.], Æneïd of Virgil: With English Notes, Critical and Explanatory, a Metrical Clavis: And an Historical, Geographical, and Mythological Index, page 474 (Harper & Brothers, 329 & 331 Pearl Street, Franklin Square, New York)
  “ Ah ! hospitable land, thou (nevertheless) betokenest war,” i. e., although hospitable, thou nevertheless betokenest war. — Bello.
- 1963 July, “News and Comment: Second thoughts on Liner trains?”, in Modern Railways, page 5:
  Since the Report was published there has been a rather unnatural absence of follow-up propaganda for the Liner trains, which seems to betoken a disinclination to embark on the heavy expenditure involved until a long-term patronage of the projected services has been assured.

Synonyms

(signify): indicate, mark, note
(foreshow): portend, presage, forebode

Derived terms

Translations

to show by signs or tokens

Bulgarian: , знача (bg) (znača), означавам (bg) (označavam)
Polish: świadczyć (pl) impf, znaczyć (pl) impf
Serbo-Croatian: naznačiti (sh)

to indicate something future by that which is seen or known

Bulgarian: , вещая (bg) (veštaja), предсказвам (bg) (predskazvam)
Polish: wróżyć (pl) impf, zapowiadać (pl) impf, zapowiedzieć (pl) pf
Serbo-Croatian: nagovjestiti, nagovestiti (sh)

References

“betoken”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
“betoken”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.