# bode

> English word · Verb · IPA /bəʊd/ · frequency rank #27,746

## Definitions
1. To indicate by signs, as future events; to be an omen of; to portend or foretell.
2. To betoken or augur something good or bad that will happen in the future.

## Etymology
Verb from Middle English boden, from Old English bodian (“announce, foretell”), from Proto-West Germanic *bodōn, from Proto-Germanic *budōną (“to proclaim, announce, lere, instruct”). See bid.
Noun from Middle English bod, from Old English bod, from Proto-Germanic *budą (“message, offer”).
Since 1740 also a shortening of forebode.

## Easily confused with
- **boy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bode-vs-boy)
- **box** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bode-vs-box)
- **bye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bode-vs-bye)
- **bow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bode-vs-bow)
- **bud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bode-vs-bud)
- **boo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bode-vs-boo)
- **bot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bode-vs-bot)
- **BON** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bode-vs-bon)
- **Boi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bode-vs-boi)
- **bop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bode-vs-bop)
- **bog** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bode-vs-bog)
- **BOM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bode-vs-bom)
- **bpd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bode-vs-bpd)
- **bor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bode-vs-bor)
- **bok** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bode-vs-bok)
- **bol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bode-vs-bol)
- **Boe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bode-vs-boe)
- **both** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bode-vs-both)
- **book** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bode-vs-book)
- **body** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bode-vs-body)

## Common misspellings (4)
`bbode`, `bdoe`, `bodde`, `obde`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/bode