mindmap root((预告)) foretell applies to the telling of a future event by any procedure or from any source of information: seers ~ of calamitous events. predict commonly implies inference from facts or from accepted laws of nature: astronomers ~ed the return of the comet. forecast adds the implication of anticipating eventualities and differs from predict in being usually concerned with probabilities rather than certainties: ~ a snowfall of six inches. (eventual最终”迟早”applies to something that is bound to follow sooner or later as the final effect of causes already in operation and implies a definite ending of a sequence of preliminary events，如the eventual defeat of the enemy敌人的最终失败，如the eventual reunification of motherland祖国最终统一，如we will win eventually我们最终会胜利) prophesy connotes inspired or mystic knowledge of the future, especially as the fulfilling of divine threats or promises, or implies great assurance in predicting: preachers ~ing a day of divine retribution. （名词prophet表示先知、倡导者a person regarded as an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God，如the Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah旧约先知耶利米，the Prophet Muhammad伊斯兰先知默罕默德， 如he was a prophet of revolutionary socialism他是革命社会主义的倡导者） prognosticate suggests prediction based on the learned or skilled interpretation of signs or symptoms: economists are ~ing a slow recovery.