Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A person who carries or proclaims important news; a messenger.
- noun One that gives a sign or indication of something to come; a harbinger.
- noun An official whose specialty is heraldry.
- noun An official formerly charged with making royal proclamations and bearing messages of state between sovereigns.
- noun An official who formerly made proclamations and conveyed challenges at a tournament.
- transitive verb To proclaim, especially with enthusiasm; announce or acclaim.
- transitive verb To be a sign of; foreshadow.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An officer sent by a sovereign, a general, or other person of high authority to another, or to an army or public assembly, with a formal message or proclamation, or employed in related duties.
- noun In extended modern use, any official messenger, especially one charged with a message of defiance, a proposition of peace, or the like.
- noun A proclaimer; a publisher; a crier; an announcer of important tidings.
- noun A forerunner; a precursor; a harbinger: sometimes used poetically in apposition or attributively.
- noun The red-breasted merganser, Mergus serrator, more fully called
herald-duck . See earl-duck, harle. - noun A noctuid moth, Gonoptera libatrix: an English collectors’ name. See
Gonoptera . - To proclaim; give tidings of as a herald; announce.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To introduce, or give tidings of, as by a herald; to proclaim; to announce; to foretell; to usher in.
- noun (Antiq.) An officer whose business was to denounce or proclaim war, to challenge to battle, to proclaim peace, and to bear messages from the commander of an army. He was invested with a sacred and inviolable character.
- noun In the Middle Ages, the officer charged with the above duties, and also with the care of genealogies, of the rights and privileges of noble families, and especially of armorial bearings. In modern times, some vestiges of this office remain, especially in England. See Heralds' College (below), and
King-at-Arms . - noun A proclaimer; one who, or that which, publishes or announces.
- noun A forerunner; a a precursor; a harbinger.
- noun Any messenger.
- noun in England, an ancient corporation, dependent upon the crown, instituted or perhaps recognized by Richard III. in 1483, consisting of the three Kings-at-Arms and the Chester, Lancaster, Richmond, Somerset, Windsor, and York Heralds, together with the Earl Marshal. This retains from the Middle Ages the charge of the armorial bearings of persons privileged to bear them, as well as of genealogies and kindred subjects; -- called also
College of Arms .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
messenger , especially one bringing importantnews . - noun A
harbinger , givingsigns of things to come. - noun heraldry An
official whose specialty isheraldry , especially one between the ranks ofpursuivant and king of arms. - noun entomology A
moth (Scoliopteryx libatrix) - verb transitive To
proclaim ,announce , etc. an event.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb greet enthusiastically or joyfully
- verb foreshadow or presage
- verb praise vociferously
- noun (formal) a person who announces important news
- noun something that precedes and indicates the approach of something or someone
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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Bozo The Neoclown says: hey pattycakes, you do realize the boston herald is owned by the dreaded new york times. right, shitstain?
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Then I called the herald, and said, "Sound for the fire."
The Bull From The Sea Renault, Mary 1962
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Before Saladin the Great uttered his last sigh he called the herald who had carried his banner before him in all his battles, and commanded him to fasten to the top of the spear a shroud in which he was to be buried, and to proclaim, "This is all that remains to Saladin the Great of all his glory."
Life and Conduct J. Cameron Lees
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Alcinous called a herald, and bade him go and fetch the harper.
Myths That Every Child Should Know A Selection Of The Classic Myths Of All Times For Young People Various 1880
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Expectation of Edward's approach had been the reason of his withdrawing his herald from the camp of Bruce, and though the king did not arrive time enough to save Stirling, Mowbray yet hoped he might still be continuing his promised march.
The Scottish Chiefs 1875
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The The Christian herald is also a combatant, in which respect he is distinguished from the herald at the games.
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Alcinous called a herald, and bade him go and fetch the harper.
Heroes, or Greek Fairy Tales for My Children Charles Kingsley 1847
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So, the herald was a decided failure, and the crowd hooted with great energy, as he pranced ingloriously away.
Sketches by Boz 2007
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_Seymour_, and claim to be of the Duke of Somerset's family, showing a clear descent from the Protector to Edward Seymour, (1630,) -- then a jump that would break a herald's neck to one Seth Saymore,
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 05, No. 30, April, 1860 Various
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Nan insisted on playing cut off her toe with a carving-knife, and performed that operation so well that the herald was alarmed, and begged her to be "welly keerful."
chained_bear commented on the word herald
A knight's assistant and an expert advisor on heraldry.
August 25, 2008