Foretell or predict, especially by reading signs. Weather, symptoms, markets, omens. As if the future left traces in the present. Prognosticate implies method: prediction with a chart, a calendar, or a practiced eye.

From Greek prognōsis "foreknowledge" (giving English prognosis), built from pro- "before" + gnōsis "knowing." The dignity of it comes from its premise: that knowing can reach forward.