It's the Word of the Day for February 2nd.

Today's word is presage, spelled P-R-E-S-A-G-E. Presage is a verb. To presage something is to give

or be a sign that it will happen in the future. Pressage is a verb. To presage something is to give or be a sign that it will happen in the future.

Pressage is a formal synonym of the words foreshadow, foretell, and predict.

Here's the word used in a sentence from What the Chicken Knows,

a new appreciation of the world's most familiar bird by Cy Montgomery.

What we're really looking for are handsome, vigorous chickens who do well in cold climes.

Adding birds of different breeds presaged an important change in our understanding.

Now that it was easier to tell birds apart, the distinct personalities of individuals began to reveal themselves more clearly.

Although sages being known for their great wisdom are sometimes believed to possess the ability to predict the future,

there is no connection between the noun sage and the verb presage, which means, as

you've likely foreseen, to foretell or predict.

While sage comes from the Latin verb sapere, meaning to be wise, presage comes instead from

a different Latin source, the adjective prisagous, a combination of the prefix, pri and sagus, meaning prophetic.

Pressage entered English, first as a noun referring to an omen, that is something that foreshadows

or portends a future event. A couple of centuries later, it was joined by the verb, which is used

for the action of foreshadowing, as in the

current economic slowdown could presage another recession and may apply to suggesting

a coming event or indicating its likelihood. With your word of the day, I'm Peter

Sokolowski.

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