A sign or omen, usually suggesting something bad will happen in the future; a feeling that something important or troubling is about to occur.
From Old English 'bodian' meaning to foretell or announce. The 'bod-' root relates to offering or announcing a message, evolving to mean a prophetic sign or presage in Middle English.
Humans are prediction machines—we see one dark cloud and boding tells us a storm approaches. Psychologists call this 'prediction error minimization,' but our ancestors called it reading the omens, and the word 'boding' captures that ancient nervousness about an unknowable future.
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