forecast

From Middle English forecasten, forcasten, equivalent to fore- +‎ cast. The noun is from Middle English forecast, forcast.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔːkɑːst/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɹkæst/

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forecast (third-person singular simple present forecasts, present participle forecasting, simple past and past participle forecast or forecasted)

1. To estimate how something will be in the future.

   to forecast the weather, or a storm

   to forecast a rise in prices

   • 2020 May 6, Graeme Pickering, “Borders Railway: time for the next step”, in Rail, page 52:

     Within six months, the total number of passengers forecast to use the line in the entire first year (650,000) had already been passed. For the first 12 months, the figure was in excess of 1.2 million. And overall, it has grown year-on-year, reaching over two million in 2018-19.

2. To foreshadow; to suggest something in advance.
3. (obsolete) To contrive or plan beforehand.
   • 1626 (date written), John Milton, “At a Vacation Exercise in the Colledge, […]”, in Poems, &c. upon Several Occasions, London: […] Tho[mas] Dring […], published 1673, →OCLC, page 64:

     And, if it happen as I did forecaſt, / The dainteſt diſhes ſhall be ſerv'd up laſt.

forecast (plural forecasts)

1. An estimation of a future condition.
   1. A prediction of the weather.

      What's the forecast for tomorrow?

      • 2024 April 19, Charles Hugh Smith, Living on Uneasy Street‎:

        It's nice to anticipate sunny weather, but it's a good idea to carry an umbrella just in case the forecasts prove overly optimistic.

2. (gambling) exacta

• forecast on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “forecast”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “forecast”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

• fastcore