Translation guide
The act of predicting or foretelling future events, often based on signs or specialized knowledge. In Japanese, the expression varies depending on whether it is a formal prediction, a medical prognosis, a fortune-telling, or a superstitious omen.
To express the act of making a prediction about the future, often based on analysis or reasoning.
The most common and neutral term for prediction or forecast, used in everyday and technical contexts.
Economic experts prognosticated next year's growth rate.
Often used for expectations or conjectures about the future, slightly more subjective than 予測.
It's difficult to prognosticate the outcome of the match.
Implies a prophetic or oracular prediction, often with a mystical or authoritative tone.
Nostradamus's prognostications made many people uneasy.
To refer to a doctor's forecast of the likely course of a disease or condition.
The standard medical term for prognosis.
The doctor explained the patient's prognostication to the family.
To predict future events through supernatural or mystical means.
To refer to a phenomenon believed to foretell the future, often superstitiously.
A sign or omen that something is about to happen, often used for both positive and negative events.
A black cat crossing your path is said to be an unlucky prognostication.
A sign or indication, often subtle, that something is beginning or about to happen.
予測 is the most objective and data-driven, often used in science and economics. 予想 is more subjective, based on personal judgment or expectation. 予言 implies a prophetic or mystical prediction, often associated with fortune-telling or religious contexts.
The English word 'prognostication' is formal and somewhat rare. In most everyday situations, Japanese speakers use simpler terms like 予測 or 予想. Using a direct translation like 予言 or 卜占 may sound overly dramatic or archaic unless the context is clearly mystical or historical.
In ancient China, governance was conducted through prognostication.
There are prognostications of spring in the air.