Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The art, ability, or practice of auguring; divination.
- noun A sign of something coming; an omen.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The art or practice of foretelling events by signs or omens.
- noun That which forebodes; that from which a prediction is drawn; an omen or significant token.
- noun Figuratively, indication; presage; promise.
- noun Synonyms Portent, Sign, etc. See
omen .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The art or practice of foretelling events by observing the actions of birds, etc.; divination.
- noun An omen; prediction; prognostication; indication of the future; presage.
- noun A rite, ceremony, or observation of an augur.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
divination based on theappearance andbehaviour of animals. - noun by extension An
omen orprediction ; aforeboding ; aprophecy . - noun An event that is experienced as indicating important things to come.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an event that is experienced as indicating important things to come
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I hoped the augury was a true one, but there were times when I doubted.
A Virginia Scout Hugh Pendexter 1907
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I must again call attention to the phenomenon of echo-augury, that is to say, words heard in an unlooked-for quarter, that, without an appeal to our reason, impel belief.
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Checked "augury" in my 1963 Webster's 7th New Collegiate Dictionary - the very same one I used in college all these years ago.
A New Respect for William Blakes' Auguries of Innocence 2009
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These, yoked to a consecrated chariot, are accompanied by the priest, and king, or chief person of the community, who attentively observe their manner of neighing and snorting; and no kind of augury is more credited, not only among the populace, but among the nobles and priests.
The Germany and the Agricola of Tacitus Caius Cornelius Tacitus
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If one observe the movements and cries of birds or of any animals, or the sneezing of men, or the sudden movements of limbs, this belongs in general to "augury," which is so called from the chattering of birds (_avium garritu_), just as
Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda Secundae) Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province Aquinas Thomas
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This is a kind of augury, which consists of an enquiry whether the god allows them to request welfare for the State, as if it were unholy even to make a request for it until the action received sanction.
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Paul in Lancs in the TMS inbox: "Re: Nicky in Brussels and his killer chickens, I would respectfully suggest the word 'augury' might be preferable to 'omen'; while omen and augury both now mean the same thing, the derivation of augury, being the practice in ancient Rome of divining the future through the observation of the action of birds, makes it more apt for use in the context of armed poultry combat."
BBC News - Home 2011
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Paul in Lancs in the TMS inbox: "Re: Nicky in Brussels and his killer chickens, I would respectfully suggest the word 'augury' might be preferable to 'omen'; while omen and augury both now mean the same thing, the derivation of augury, being the practice in ancient Rome of divining the future through the observation of the action of birds, makes it more apt for use in the context of armed poultry combat."
BBC News - Home 2011
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"augury"; while the third consists in doing something in order to discover the occult; and this belongs to "sortilege."
Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda Secundae) Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province Aquinas Thomas
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The boffo numbers for the Sunday night contest came on the heels of Thursday night's kickoff that attracted 27.2 million fans — all in all, an augury devoutly to be wished by NBC.
Prolagus commented on the word augury
Tanty augury: misspelling of Italian tanti auguri, or gay omen?
April 16, 2008