augury

noun

au·gu·ry ˈȯ-gyə-rē

-gə-

plural auguries

Synonyms of augury next

: divination from auspices (see auspice sense 3) or omens

Ancient augury involved the interpretation of the flight patterns of birds.

also : an instance of this

: omen, portent

" … the best augury of a man's success in his profession is that he thinks it the finest in the world."—

George Eliot

Examples of augury in a Sentence

a yearbook augury that of all the graduates, he would be the most likely to succeed some people believe that a broken mirror is an augury of seven years' bad luck

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

These signs seem to confirm Sahm’s augury that the economy remains healthy. —

David Thomas, Forbes, 16 Oct. 2024 The auguries were not favorable for a Pétain acquittal. —

Robert O. Paxton, Harper's Magazine, 17 Dec. 2023 Advertisement Remarkably, Kushner’s augury of a world coming apart holds true three decades later, including his prognostications about the dangers of climate change and the radical partisanship of the judiciary. —

Peter Marks, Washington Post, 2 Apr. 2023 With this new investor, the augury for the cigar industry is good. —

Nicholas Foulkes, Robb Report, 15 Apr. 2023 See all Example Sentences for augury

Word History

Etymology

Middle English augurie, borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French augorrye, augurrie, borrowed from Latin augurium "divination by an augur, art of divination, omen, portent," from augur augur entry 1 + -ium, suffix of function or state

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of augury was in the 15th century

See more words from the same century