What does predestine mean?
Predestine is a rare verb meaning to destine or determine something beforehand. It often appears in discussions of fate, character, or historical development, suggesting that a particular outcome was fixed in advance or was strongly foreshadowed by earlier conditions. For example, a person's early abilities may be said to predestine a successful career. The word has a formal and somewhat old-fashioned tone and is much less common than predestinate or predetermine. Its associations with inevitability can be especially pronounced when it is applied to human lives, although it may also describe political, literary, or historical outcomes. Predestine comes through Latin praedestinare, a compound of prae-, meaning before, and destinare, meaning to establish or appoint. It belongs to the same word family as destiny, destination, predestinate, and predestination. Although predestine is now largely confined to elevated or historical prose, it remains effective when an author wants to emphasize foresight, destiny, or the apparent inevitability of a later event.
verbTo destine or appoint in advance; to predetermine the course or outcome of something.
- To destine or appoint beforehand, especially to determine someone's future course of life or the outcome of an event.
"The alliance seemed to predestine the eventual partition of the country."
"Her early talents seemed to predestine a distinguished career."
"The scholars debated whether political events are shaped by human decisions or predestined by forces beyond their control."
Predestine gives a succinct name to the idea that a person's future has already been fixed in advance.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does predestine come from?
Predestine derives from the Latin verb praedestinare, meaning to destine or appoint beforehand. That form combines prae-, meaning before, with destinare, meaning to establish, determine, or appoint. English developed both predestine and the closely related predestinate from this Latin source, with predestine now surviving chiefly as an archaic or literary term.
Related word forms
How predestine is actually used
Predestine is literary, archaic, and uncommon in contemporary English. In most modern writing, predestinate, predetermine, or destine is more natural, depending on the intended sense.
Easily confused with predestine
Predestine is a rare English verb, whereas predestinate is the more familiar verb and adjective form in modern usage.