augury

English

Etymology

augur +‎ -y, or from Middle English augurie, from Old French augurie, from Latin augurium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔː.ɡjʊ.ɹi/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

augury (countable and uncountable, plural auguries)

1. A divination based on the appearance and behaviour of animals.
2. (by extension) An omen or prediction; a foreboding; a prophecy.
   • 1850, James Russell Lowell, The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe/Volume 1/Edgar A. Poe:

     In Wordsworth's first preludings there is but a dim foreboding of the creator of an era. From Southey's early poems, a safer augury might have been drawn.

   • 1859, George Meredith, chapter 15, in The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. A History of Father and Son. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC:

     No augury could be hopefuller. The Fates must indeed be hard, the Ordeal severe, the Destiny dark, that could destroy so bright a Spring!

   • 1950 August, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 549:

     Fortunately many of the younger men are keen enough to make a success of their work, and this gives a better augury for the future.

3. An event that is experienced as indicating important things to come.
   • 1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 2, in Well Tackled!‎^[1]:

     Evidently he did not mean to be a mere figurehead, but to carry on the old tradition of Wilsthorpe's; and that was considered to be a good thing in itself and an augury for future prosperity.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:augury.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:omen
• zoomancy

 

Hyponyms

• ailuromancy, felidomancy (cats)
• alectryomancy (chickens)
• (ants)
• arachnomancy (spiders)
• auspice (birds)
• entomomancy (insects)
• hippomancy (horses)
• ichthyomancy (fish)
• myomancy (mice)
• myrmomancy
• ophiomancy (snakes)
• ornithomancy (birds)

 

Related terms

• augur

Translations

divination based on the appearance and behaviour of animals

• Arabic: تَوَسُّم الطَّيْر m (tawassum aṭ-ṭayr)
• Bulgarian: гадание (bg) (gadanie)
• French: augure (fr) m
• German: Prophezeiung (de) f, Vorzeichen (de) n
• Greek: οιωνοσκοπία (el) f (oionoskopía)
• Italian: augurio (it) m
• Latin: auspicium n
• Macedonian: га́тање n (gátanje)
• Ottoman Turkish: كبزه (kebze)
• Portuguese: augúrio (pt)
• Romanian: augur (ro) n, auspiciu (ro) n
• Spanish: augurio (es) m, presagio (es) m, agüero (es) m
• Telugu: శాకునము (śākunamu)
• Turkish: alâmet (tr), kehanet (tr)

an omen or prediction; a foreboding

• Bulgarian: предсказание (bg) (predskazanie), предчувствие (bg) (predčuvstvie)
• French: augure (fr) m
• German: Omen (de) n, Vorzeichen (de) n
• Greek: οιωνός (el) m (oionós)
• Italian: augurio (it) m, presagio (it) m, predizione (it) f
• Macedonian: пре́дзнак m (prédznak), претсказа́ние n (pretskazánie)
• Old English: hwatu f
• Ottoman Turkish: اوغور (uğur) (a favorable one)
• Persian: اغر (fa) (oğor), مروا (fa) (morvâ)
• Portuguese: agouro (pt)
• Romanian: augur (ro) n, semn (ro) n, piază (ro) f
• Swedish: förebud (sv) n, järtecken (sv), varsel (sv) n
• Turkish: alâmet (tr), işaret (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Ido: ^{(please verify)} auguro (io)
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} augurio