- predict
- 1623, "to foretell, prophesy," from L. prędicatus, pp. of prędicere "foretell, advise, give notice," from prę- "before" + dicere "to say" (see diction). Scientific sense of "to have as a deducible consequence" is recorded from 1961. Prediction is recorded from 1561, from L. prędictio "a foretelling," from prędictus. Predictably "as could have been predicted" is attested from 1914.