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That which is presaged, or foretold. [R.] "Ominous presagement before his end. " Sir H. Wotton.

Knowledge of events before they take place; foresight. God's certain prescience of the volitions of moral agents. J. Edwards.

Having knowledge of coming events; foreseeing; conscious beforehand. Pope. Henry . . . had shown himself sensible, and almost prescient, of this event. Bacon.

To select beforehand.

esence of a superior. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the lord. Job i. 6

Feeling or perceiving beforehand.

Bringing a conception or notion directly before the mind; presenting an object to the memory of imagination; -- distinguished from symbolic. How greatly the word "will" is felt to have lost presentive power in the last three centuries. Earle. -- Pre*sent"ive*ly, adv. -- Pre*sent"ive*ness, n.

At once; without delay; forthwith; also, less definitely, soon; shortly; before long; after a little while; by and by. Shak. And presently the fig tree withered away. Matt. xxi. 19.

any offence from their own knowledge or observation, without any bill of indictment laid before them, as, the presentment of a nuisance, a libel, or the like; also, an inquisition of office and indictment by a grand jury; an official accusation presented to a tribunal by the grand jury in an indictment, or the act of…

The act of signifying or showing beforehand.

To intimate or signify beforehand; to presage.

The last proof for correction before sending to press.

To assume or take beforehand; esp., to do or undertake without leave or authority previously obtained. Dare he presume to scorn us in this manner Shak. Bold deed thou hast presumed, adventurous Eve. Milton.

To suppose beforehand; to imply as antecedent; to take for granted; to assume; as, creation presupposes a creator. Each [kind of knowledge] presupposes many necessary things learned in other sciences, and known beforehand. Hooker.

To hold before, or put forward, as a cloak or disguise for something else; to exhibit as a veil for something hidden. [R.] Lest that too heavenly form, pretended To hellish falsehood, snare them. Milton.

Fitted for trial beforehand; experimental. [R.] Sir H. Wotton.

To torture beforehand. Fuller.

A going before; anticipation in sequence or order. "The law of prevenance is simply the well-known law of phenomenal sequence." Ward.

To come before; to anticipate; hence, to hinder; to prevent. [Obs.] Philips.

The act of going before; anticipation. [R.]