foresee
fore·see/fɔɹˈsi/verb
foresee is spelled F-O-R-E-S-E-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables (fore·see). It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, foresee means “To perceive (a situation or event) in advance” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in foresee?
| Letters | 7: F-O-R-E-S-E-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: fore·see |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 22,965th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is foresee?
Foresee appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce foresee?
- US /fɔɹˈsi/
- US /fɚˈsi/
- UK /fɔːˈsiː/
Foresee has 2 syllables, split fore·see in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-foresee.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with foresee?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as foresee from its last stressed vowel (/i/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of foresee
- foresees present, singular, he/she/it
- foreseeing participle, present
- foresaw past
- foreseen participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does foresee mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To perceive (a situation or event) in advance.
- 2
obsoleteTo provide.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Foresee in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to anticipate:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | prévoir, anticiper |
| German | vorhersehen, voraussehen |
| Portuguese | prever, prognosticar |
| Spanish | prever, antever |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does foresee come from?
From Middle English foreseen, forseen, from Old English foresēon; equivalent to fore- + see. Similar formations in Dutch voorzien, German vorsehen, Latin prōvideō, (whence provide and purvey), Ancient Greek πρόοιδα (próoida), Polish przewidzieć, Russian провидеть (providetʹ).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).