Premunition

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An early warning or forewarning about a danger or event that has not yet happened
2. A foreboding or advance notice that something unpleasant is likely to occur later on
3. Advance caution given in anticipation of a problem, often in the form of a warning sign

Etymology: "Premunition" is a 17th-century English word, borrowed from the Late Latin "praemunitio," a noun built from "praemunire," meaning to fortify in advance or to defend beforehand. The Latin verb combines "prae," meaning "before," with "munire," meaning to fortify or build a defensive wall, which also gave English "munitions" and "immunity." So the core image is literally fortification set up ahead of an attack. The sense of a "warning" is a comparatively late shift. Early English writers used the word in its legal and technical senses, and in the 1600s it was a term for prior notice or preparation. Over time it came to describe a forewarning, an intuition or sign that something bad is about to happen. Its close relative "premonition," which entered English around the same period, took the same route, and the two are often confused today.