bode.
Of a thing: to be an indication, omen, or sign of (something); to portend.
Meaning & usage
Of a thing: to be an indication, omen, or sign of (something); to portend.
To declare (something, such as a future event) before it occurs; to foretell, to predict; specifically, to predict (something undesirable); to forebode.
Often followed by ill or well: of a thing: to be an indication, omen, or sign of something.
Where this word comes from
The verb is derived partly from the following: * From Middle English boden, bodian (“to be a sign or symbol, betoken, signify; to be an omen of a future event, forebode, foreshadow; to foretell, presage; to command, order; to deliver a message, proclaim, report; to preach”), from Old English bodian (“to announce, proclaim, tell; to foretell, prophesy; to preach; etc.”), from Proto-West Germanic *bodōn (“to announce, proclaim; to call, summon”), from Proto-Germanic *budōną (“to announce, proclaim; to call, summon”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- (“to be awake; to be aware”). Doublet of bid (“to make an attempt; to make an offer”). * A back-formation from forebode. The noun is derived from Middle English bod (“foreboding, omen; message, report; command, edict; (Christianity) commandment; etc.”), from Old English bod (“command, edict, order”), from Proto-West Germanic *bod (“command, mandate, order”), from Proto-Germanic *budą (“message; offer”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- (see above).
A feeling that something is going to happen; a premonition, a presentiment.
An indication, an omen, a sign.
A message; also, news, tidings.
Where this word comes from
The verb is derived partly from the following: * From Middle English boden, bodian (“to be a sign or symbol, betoken, signify; to be an omen of a future event, forebode, foreshadow; to foretell, presage; to command, order; to deliver a message, proclaim, report; to preach”), from Old English bodian (“to announce, proclaim, tell; to foretell, prophesy; to preach; etc.”), from Proto-West Germanic *bodōn (“to announce, proclaim; to call, summon”), from Proto-Germanic *budōną (“to announce, proclaim; to call, summon”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- (“to be awake; to be aware”). Doublet of bid (“to make an attempt; to make an offer”). * A back-formation from forebode. The noun is derived from Middle English bod (“foreboding, omen; message, report; command, edict; (Christianity) commandment; etc.”), from Old English bod (“command, edict, order”), from Proto-West Germanic *bod (“command, mandate, order”), from Proto-Germanic *budą (“message; offer”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- (see above).
An offer to pay a certain amount of money for something; a bid.
Where this word comes from
The noun is derived from Middle English bod (“act of bargaining or offering, or the subject of the bargain or offer; promise; proposal”), the same word stated in etymology 1. Doublet of bid. The verb is probably derived from the noun. cognates * Dutch bod * Faroese boð * German Gebot * Icelandic boð * Norwegian Bokmål bud, Norwegian Nynorsk bod * Old Saxon gibod * Swedish bud
To make a bid or offer for (something); to bid, to offer.
Where this word comes from
The noun is derived from Middle English bod (“act of bargaining or offering, or the subject of the bargain or offer; promise; proposal”), the same word stated in etymology 1. Doublet of bid. The verb is probably derived from the noun. cognates * Dutch bod * Faroese boð * German Gebot * Icelandic boð * Norwegian Bokmål bud, Norwegian Nynorsk bod * Old Saxon gibod * Swedish bud
A herald; a messenger.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English bode (“emissary, messenger”), from Old English boda (“herald, messenger; prophet”), from Proto-West Germanic *bodō, from Proto-Germanic *budô (“messenger”), from *beudaną (“to bid, offer”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- (“to be awake; to be aware”) (compare etymology 1). cognates * Dutch bode (“harbinger, messenger”) * German Bote (“messenger”)
An act of biding or waiting; a wait; also, a delay.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English bod, bode, bade, baide; further etymology uncertain, probably: * an aphetic form of abod (“act of waiting, delay”), probably related to Old English bād (“expectation; waiting”), from Proto-West Germanic *baidu, from Proto-Germanic *baidō; and/or * a variant of bide (“act of delaying; a delay”), from Old English bīd (“act of abiding; delay”), related to bīdan (“to remain, stay; to wait”), from Proto-West Germanic *bīdan (“to wait”), from Proto-Germanic *bīdaną (“to await, wait”) (whence modern English abide, bide), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- (“to convince; to trust”).
simple past of bide
Where this word comes from
An inflected form of bide.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.