Definition of "presage"

Speak frankly, Mirzes—nor believe thy words, / Whatever black preſages they contain, / Subjoin'd to all Trophonius hath foretold, / Can change my firm reſolves, or blunt my ſword.

a. 1786, [Richard Glover], “Book the Twenty-eighth”, in [Mrs. Halsey], editor, The Athenaid, a Poem, […], volume III, London: […] T[homas] Cadell, […], published 1787, page 213, lines 354–357

Glad was I when I reached the other bank. / Now for a better country. Vain presage!

1855, Robert Browning, “‘Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came.’”, in Men and Women […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], stanza 22, page 143

If I may truſt the flattering truth of ſleepe, / My dreames preſage ſome ioyfull newes at hand : / My boſomes L. ſits lightly in his throne : / And all this day an vnaccuſtom’d ſpirit, / Lifts me aboue the ground with cheatfull thoughts […]

c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act V, scene i]

That brief moment after the election four years ago, when many Americans thought Mr. Obama’s election would presage a new, less fractious political era, now seems very much a thing of the past.

2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a second term, Obama will confront familiar headwinds”, in The New York Times‎