These words refer to a sense, indication or sign of something to come. Most, but not all, partake of the prophetic, and some directly involve superstition. A premonition is instinctive, based on an indefinable feeling rather than on actual information received. It may be good or bad, may come in sleep or wakefulness, and may be either borne out or proved false by later events.

• A premonition that she would win led her to take a chance in the raffle; He had a premonition of his father’s death.

Some premonitions are purely irrational or superstitious; others, possible instances of extrasensory perception. Presentiment is very close to premonition in meaning but is more formal in tone. Etymologically, whereas premonition stresses the idea of an advance warning given to the mind, presentiment points to a sort of inner perception, usually an instinctive feeling of foreboding, a sense that misfortune or calamity is at hand: a terrifying, but totally unfounded presentiment that his life was in great danger; a presentiment that the ship was going to sink. Like a premonition or presentiment , an inkling is an intimation of something yet unknown. Getting an inkling of something, however, does not require prophetic powers or ESP. Instead, the ability to interpret natural signs, to pick up hints or to guess on the basis of a paucity of information is involved.

• A few veiled hints she dropped gave me my first inkling of her purpose.

Unlike the other words, it is often used negatively in disclaiming or denying any knowledge of something.

• I haven’t the slightest inkling of what he is going to do.

Omen and portent differ from the foregoing in that they designate outward and visible signs that are regarded as prophetic and are subject to interpretation. Both words strongly imply a superstitious response. To those who believe in them, there are both good and evil omens . A stork nesting on the roof, for example, is considered a good omen in many European countries. A black cat crossing one’s path is thought to be an evil omen . Unlike an omen , which may be favourable, a portent more often, though not always, indicates impending evil. A portent may be a sign, an event, a wonder, a natural or unnatural phenomenon: a sailor’s belief in luck and in supernatural portents. It may be something momentous, to marvel at, as a flaming comet; or it may be something ominous and heavy with foreboding, as a total eclipse.

• Calpurnia’s premonition of Caesar’s death came in the form of a prophetic dream; Casca saw a fiery tempest, a slave with a flaming, unescorted hand, a lion in the Capitol, and other prodigious portents .

Omen and portent , modified by words like black, bad, ill or evil, may also mean ominous significance: a bird of evil omen ; a cloud of black portent .

The remaining words refer to a messenger or herald who signals the approach of a coming person or thing. Formerly, a harbinger was a courier who rode in advance of a party to arrange for their lodging. Now, though the word may mean anyone in the vanguard who is a preparer of the way, it is more often used figuratively of a person or thing that heralds the approach of a change.

• An autumn frost is a harbinger of winter; The wren is a harbinger of spring.

Unlike the other words in this set, the designations forerunner and precursor may indicate hindsight rather than foresight, pointing to an advance sign that is seen as such only in terms of later events. Both words share the same etymological meaning, precursor meaning forerunner in Latin. They now differ somewhat in use, however. Forerunner more strongly retains the original sense of a person who goes ahead as a messenger to proclaim the coming of another. John the Baptist is known as the Forerunner since he heralded the coming of Christ. The word precursor was also used of John the Baptist; but where forerunner stresses the announcement of a more important person’s coming, precursor implies a laying of the groundwork for a later, more significant, accomplishment. Both forerunner and precursor may refer to a predecessor in a particular line of development, or an advance indication of something to come.

• John Wyclif was one of the main forerunners of the Reformation and an important precursor of Martine Luther.

Used of signs or symptoms, both words may be unfavourable in tone.

• Overweight and shortness of breath were the precursors of a heart attack; a localized border conflict that turned out to be the precursor of a world war; Widespread moral corruption and decadence are often the forerunners of national decline.