herald

 
Pronunciation: /ˈhɛr(ə)ld/

noun

  • 1an official employed to oversee state ceremonial, precedence, and the use of armorial bearings, and (historically) to make proclamations, carry official messages, and oversee tournaments.
  • (in the UK) an official of the College of Arms or the Lyon Court ranking above a pursuivant.
  • 2a person or thing viewed as a sign that something is about to happen: they considered the first primroses as the herald of spring
  • 3a brown moth with dull orange markings, often hibernating in houses and old buildings.
    • Scoliopteryx libatrix, family Noctuidae

verb

[with object]
  • be a sign that (something) is about to happen: the speech heralded a change in policy
  • acclaim: the band have been heralded as the great hope for the nineties

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French herault (noun), herauder (verb), of Germanic origin