Meaning

verb realize beforehand

verb picture to oneself; imagine possible

verb act in advance of; deal with ahead of time

originFrom Middle English foreseen, forseen, from Old English foresēon; equivalent to fore- + see. Similar formations in Dutch voorzien, German vorsehen, Latin prōvideō, (whence provide and purvey), Ancient Greek πρόοιδα (próoida), Polish przewidzieć, Russian провидеть (providetʹ).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0