PREDICTION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does prediction mean? 

• PREDICTION (noun)
  The noun PREDICTION has 2 senses:

1. the act of predicting (as by reasoning about the future)

2. a statement made about the future

  Familiarity information: PREDICTION used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PREDICTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of predicting (as by reasoning about the future)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

anticipation; prediction; prevision

Hypernyms ("prediction" is a kind of...):

abstract thought; logical thinking; reasoning (thinking that is coherent and logical)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "prediction"):

projection (a prediction made by extrapolating from past observations)

prognostication; prophecy; vaticination (knowledge of the future (usually said to be obtained from a divine source))

adumbration; foreshadowing; prefiguration (the act of providing vague advance indications; representing beforehand)

Derivation:

predict (make a prediction about; tell in advance)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A statement made about the future

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

forecasting; foretelling; prediction; prognostication

Hypernyms ("prediction" is a kind of...):

statement (a message that is stated or declared; a communication (oral or written) setting forth particulars or facts etc)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "prediction"):

extropy (the prediction that human intelligence and technology will enable life to expand in an orderly way throughout the entire universe)

fortunetelling (the practice of predicting people's futures (usually for payment))

horoscope (a prediction of someone's future based on the relative positions of the planets)

meteorology; weather forecasting (predicting what the weather will be)

forecast; prognosis (a prediction about how something (as the weather) will develop)

divination; prophecy (a prediction uttered under divine inspiration)

 Context examples 

The scientists used a computer model to compare predictions of past climate with the record of rainfall and vegetation in ancient soils.

(Six million years ago, atmospheric shifts led to increased diversity of grassland mammals, National Science Foundation)

This result confirms one of the fundamental predictions of the widely accepted "cold dark matter" theory.

(Cosmic Magnifying Glasses Find Dark Matter in Small Clumps, NASA)

Remarkably, the predictions were confirmed, supporting the theory and providing new insight into how individual neurons control body movements.

(Fundamental Rules for How The Brain Controls Movement, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

They are making a present day prediction about what may be seen in 2022 based on those observations.

(Star Explosion Could Change Night Sky, VOA News)

Rignot said these findings will require an upward revision to current predictions of sea level rise.

(West Antarctic Glacier loss appears unstoppable, NASA)

Unconscious of this prediction, Mr. Dick continued to occupy precisely the same ground in reference to the Doctor and to Mrs. Strong.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Any model that can be used to study issues important in cancer such as cancer development or prediction.

(Cancer Model, NCI Thesaurus)

The manuscript so wonderfully found, so wonderfully accomplishing the morning's prediction, how was it to be accounted for?

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Your predictions sometimes come to pass, but I don't believe that one will.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

A test perfomed to identify a disease or make a prediction of the course of the disease.

(Diagnostic or Prognostic Test, NCI Thesaurus)