prever

Prever is a verb in Portuguese meaning to foresee, anticipate, or predict future events. It is used to describe the act of considering what might happen and of planning or acting in light of those possibilities. In everyday language, one might say that an organization should prever risks or that analysts attempt to prever trends in a market. The related noun previsão denotes a forecast or projection, common in contexts such as weather forecasting, economic planning, and project management.

Etymology and related terms: Prever derives from Latin praevidere, formed from prae- “before” and videre “to see.” The word has cognates in other Romance languages, such as prever in Spanish and prevedere in Italian, all sharing a similar sense of foreseeing or predicting.

Usage and registers: The verb is widely used across formal and informal speech. It appears in discussions of risk management, policy planning, science, and journalism. Because forecasting inherently involves uncertainty, prever is often used with qualifiers that acknowledge potential variation in outcomes.

Conjugation and grammar: Prever is an irregular -er verb in many tenses, with stem changes that differ from regular -er verbs. A full paradigm is standard in Portuguese grammar references.

See also: previsão, previsão do tempo, previsão econômica, previsão estatística, forecast (in related languages).

Notes: While mainly a general verb for foreseeing, prever also appears in more technical domains where forecasting or anticipation of events is central, from meteorology to economics and strategic planning.