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前兆 — meaning in English

qián zhào

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English meaning

  • foreshadowing noun A technique in storytelling in which a writer plants hints early on about something that will happen later, so the eventual event feels prepared for rather than random.
  • harbinger noun A person or sign that shows something is about to happen, especially something important.
  • omen noun A sign believed to foretell a future event, whether good or bad.
  • premonition noun A strong feeling that something is about to happen, especially something bad, before there is any real evidence of it.
  • prodigy noun A person, especially a child, with exceptional talent or ability.

Senses

前兆 is used for these senses in English:

  • foreshadowing (literature, usually, uncountable) A literary device whereby an author drops hints or symbolic representations of plot developments to come later in the story.
  • harbinger A person or thing that foreshadows or foretells the coming of someone or something.
  • omen Something which portends or is perceived to portend either a good or evil event or circumstance in the future, or which causes a foreboding; a portent or augury.
  • premonition A clairvoyant or clairaudient experience, such as a dream, which resonates with some event in the future.
  • prodigy (archaic) An extraordinary thing seen as an omen; a portent. [from 15th c.]

foreshadowing — full definition

  1. noun A technique in storytelling in which a writer plants hints early on about something that will happen later, so the eventual event feels prepared for rather than random.
  2. verb Present participle of foreshadow: to be an early sign of something that is going to happen.

Related Chinese words