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augur

Pronunciation: /ˈɔːgə/

Translate augur | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of augur

verb

[no object] (augur well/badly/ill)
  • (of an event or circumstance) portend a good or bad outcome:the end of the cold war seemed to augur well
  • [with object] portend or bode (a specified outcome):they feared that these happenings augured a neo-Nazi revival
  • [with object] archaic foresee or predict.

noun

  • (in ancient Rome) a religious official who observed natural signs, especially the behaviour of birds, interpreting these as an indication of divine approval or disapproval of a proposed action.

Derivatives

augural

Pronunciation: /ˈɔːgjʊ(ə)r(ə)l/

adjective ( archaic)

Origin:

late Middle English (as a noun): from Latin, 'diviner'

The spellings augur (a verb meaning ‘portend a good or bad outcome’, as in this augurs well) and auger (a type of tool used for boring) are sometimes confused, but the two words are quite different in both their present meaning and their origins.

augur in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of augur in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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