forespell

verb

"forespell" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“forespell” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To spell in advance; foretell; make a warning about something upcoming; tell or indicate beforehand; predict

Corpus desk

Index EN-forespell · forespell · English

forespell · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "F" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for forespell
PropertyValue
Headwordforespell
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “forespell” in English

forespellsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

forespell is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To spell in advance; foretell; make a warning about something upcoming; tell or indicate beforehand; predict".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for forespell, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From fore- + spell. Compare Dutch voorspellen (“to predict”). The correct English form is forespell, spelled F-O-R-E-S-P-E-L-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    To spell in advance; foretell; make a warning about something upcoming; tell or indicate beforehand; predict

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how forespell appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The single boat, locus of misunderstanding about the loaves by a single group, is developed in two directions: Jesus' boat forespells the ability to understand the feeding sign, while the Tiberias boats forespell the opposite.
  2. The wind seemed to forespell my doom as it gusted into the room, blowing out half the candles in the circle, and sending the spray of rose petals around us dancing into the far corners of the room.

Etymology

From fore- + spell. Compare Dutch voorspellen (“to predict”).

Synonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "forespell"?
"forespell" is spelled F-O-R-E-S-P-E-L-L.
What does "forespell" mean?
As a verb, "forespell" means: To spell in advance; foretell; make a warning about something upcoming; tell or indicate beforehand; predict
What is the origin of the word "forespell"?
From fore- + spell. Compare Dutch voorspellen (“to predict”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list