augur

1 of 2

noun

au·​gur ˈȯ-gər 

1

: an official diviner of ancient Rome

2

: one held to foretell events by omens

augur

2 of 2

verb

augured; auguring; augurs

transitive verb

1

: to foretell especially from omens

2

: to give promise of : presage

This bad news augurs disaster for all of us.

intransitive verb

: to predict the future especially from omens

Did you know?

In ancient Rome, augurs were official diviners whose function it was to divine whether the gods approved of a proposed undertaking, such as a military move. They did so by various means, among them observing the behavior of birds and examining the entrails of sacrificed animals. We doubt the Romans predicted that augur would eventuate into a verb meaning “presage or foretell,” but in retrospect, augur’s path must have been in the stars.

Synonyms

Noun

• diviner
• forecaster
• foreseer
• foreteller
• fortune-teller
• futurist
• prognosticator
• prophesier
• prophet
• seer
• soothsayer
• visionary

Verb

• bode
• forebode
• forbode
• promise

Examples of augur in a Sentence

Noun

ancient Roman augurs who predicted the future by reading the flight of birds

Verb

The decision doesn't augur well.

the extended interview augurs well for your acceptance into that law school

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

This absurd, forceful flare of ego was a bad augur. —Charles Curkin, New York Times, 24 Nov. 2024

The ancient Romans consulted augurs, who discerned the future by studying the behavior of birds. —Matthew Continetti, National Review, 26 Oct. 2024

Verb

Because election trends in similar-looking parts of the country tend to align with each other, a better-than-expected performance for one party in certain types of districts could augur well for them in other seats and produce a double-digit seat majority. —Geoffrey Skelley, ABC News, 8 Oct. 2024

Its early success contrasted with the chaos and high death tolls elsewhere and seemed to augur China’s coming of age as a major power. —Harsh V. Pant, Foreign Affairs, 14 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English augurre, augure, borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French augure, borrowed from Latin augur, perhaps going back to *aug-u-s "the increased, one who receives the signs of increase," noun derivative of an s-stem adjective *aug-u-s "increased, grown," derivative of a u-stem adjective *aug-u- with the same sense, derivative from the base of augeō, augēre "to increase, make greater, heighten" — more at eke entry 2

Note: Though a connection has long been sought between the noun augur and the verb augēre, as well as with the adjective augustus "solemn, venerable" (see august), the semantic and morphological details are elusive. The above etymology was proposed by Michael Weiss in "Observations of the Prehistory of Latin augur," Alessandria 5 (2011), Atti del Convegno Internazionale … in memoriam Helmut Rix, pp. 365-79. As a morphological point of comparison for the derivation of augur, Weiss points to Latin vetus, veteris "old, veteran," which, if derived from an original u-stem adjective *u̯etu-, could be plausibly linked to Lithuanian vẽtušas and Old Church Slavic vetŭxŭ, both meaning "old."

Verb

borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French augurer, borrowed from Latin augurāre, augurārī "to foretell by augury, take auspices, prophesy, predict," derivative of augur augur entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1593, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

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Kids Definition

augur

1 of 2 noun

au·​gur ˈȯ-gər 

: a person (as in ancient Rome) who foretells the future by omens

augur

2 of 2 verb

1

: to predict from signs or omens

2

: to give promise of

this augurs well for the future