Word of the Day: Portends

I came across this word while re-reading a chapter in the book Blood and Oil (Great book!).
Portends means: To indicate by prediction; forecast. Here is the context from the book:

The pervasive instability of the Persian Gulf undoubtedly portends the continued presence of a large American military force in the region.

BTW, in my March Madness bracket, I portend that Connecticut and Duke will play in the Championship game and further portend that Duke will win it all. Reddick leads them all the way. My other two Final Four predictions are Boston College and Gonzaga.

PS. Dad's word of the day is plethora, which means a superabundance; an excess. He says that when he uses that word, it calms people down.