augur meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

augur

noun

UK /ˈɔːɡə/ · AU, UK, NZ /ˈoːɡə/

Etymology Borrowed from Latin augur, of uncertain origin; akin to augurō (“interpret omens”).

A diviner who foretells events by the behaviour of birds or other animals, or by signs derived from celestial phenomena, or unusual occurrences.

Augur of ill, whoſe tongue was never found / Without a prieſtly curſe, or boding ſound; [...]a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The First Book of Homer’s Ilias”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 420:

Ancient Rome An official who interpreted omens before the start of public events.

It was an ancient tradition, that when the Capitol was founded by one of the Roman kings, the god Terminus (who presided over boundaries, and was represented, according to the fashion of that age, by a large stone) alone, among all the inferior deities, refused to yield his place to Jupiter himself. A favorable inference was drawn from his obstinacy, which was interpreted by the augurs as a sure presage that the boundaries of the Roman power would never recede.1776, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol I, ch 1-pt ii:

verb

Etymology Borrowed from Latin augur, of uncertain origin; akin to augurō (“interpret omens”).

To foretell events; to exhibit signs of future events; to indicate a favorable or an unfavorable outcome.

to augur well or ill
The train was well filled, with quite an amount of intermediate business; but station staff and passengers alike seemed ready enough to "look lively", and the result was a general "slickness" in working that augers^([sic]) well for the future.1959 June 23, O. S. Nock, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 408:

3 more examples

But there, too, the meteorological omens augured ill.2024 May 9, Ned Temko, “On rare visit, Xi Jinping tries to rescue China’s relationship with Europe”, in The Christian Science Monitor:
Whether term limits would augur a return of justices with broader experience in public life is debatable.2024 September 20, Mark Sherman, “Supreme Court justices have a job for life. But some left the court to make their lasting mark”, in AP News:
As Ellmann was quietly assembling materials for his biography, specialization was on the rise in American literature departments, as the critic Erich Auerbach warned, auguring the decline of a general humanities education.2025 June 16, Eric Bulson, “Yes I Will Read ‘Ulysses’ Yes”, in The Atlantic, →ISSN:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.