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) (file)

Noun

augury (countable and uncountable, plural auguries)

A divination based on the appearance and behaviour of animals.
(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. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, OCLC 213819910:
  No augury could be hopefuller. The Fates must indeed be hard, the Ordeal severe, the Destiny dark, that could destroy so bright a Spring!
An event that is experienced as indicating important things to come.
- 1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 2, in Well Tackled!‎:
  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

Hyponyms

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

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)
Portuguese: augúrio (pt)
Romanian: augur (ro) n, auspiciu (ro) n
Spanish: augurio (es) m, presagio (es) m, agüero (es) m
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
Persian: اغر‎ (fa) (oğor), مروا‎ (fa) (morvā)
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