portent
/ˈpɔɹtɛnt/noun
portent is spelled P-O-R-T-E-N-T: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 66,686th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, portent means “Something that portends an event about to occur, especially an unfortunate or evil event; an omen” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of portent is portents.
How many letters and syllables are in portent?
| Letters | 7: P-O-R-T-E-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 66,686th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is portent?
Portent appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 66,686th 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 portent?
- /ˈpɔɹtənt/
- UK /ˈpɔːtɛnt/
- US /ˈpɔɹtɛnt/
Portent has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-portent.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of portent
- portents plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does portent mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Something that portends an event about to occur, especially an unfortunate or evil event; an omen.
It was a portent of things to come.
- 2
A portending; significance
a howl of dire portent
- 3
Something regarded as portentous; a marvel; prodigy.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Portent in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense omen:
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 portent come from?
Borrowed from Latin portentum, participle of portendere, from portendō (“to predict, to foretell”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).