Link Centre Dictionary

betoken

be·to·ken

UK/bɪˈtoʊ.kən/ uncommon

verb

1.

be a signal for or a symptom of

  • “These symptoms indicate a serious illness”
  • “Her behavior points to a severe neurosis”
  • “The economic indicators signal that the euro is undervalued”
Synonyms
2.

Origin

From Middle English bitoknen, bitacnen, from Old English betācnian (“to betoken, signify, designate”), from Proto-West Germanic *bitaiknijan. Equivalent to be- + token. Cognate with Dutch betekenen (“to mean, signify”), German bezeichnen (“to call, designate”), Swedish beteckna (“to represent, designate, indicate”) and Danish betegne (“to represent, designate, indicate”).

Phrases

  • more betoken

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.