augur

See also: Augur

English

WOTD – 13 May 2009

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɔː.ɡə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɔ.ɡɚ/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɑ.ɡɚ/

• Audio (US, cot–caught merger):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːɡə(ɹ)
• Homophone: auger; see also AGA

Noun

augur (plural augurs)

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

     Augur of ill, whoſe tongue was never found / Without a prieſtly curſe, or boding ſound; [...]

2. (Ancient Rome) An official who interpreted omens before the start of public events.
   • 1776, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol I, ch 1-pt ii:

     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.

Derived terms

• augurate
• augurism
• augurize
• augurship

 

Translations

diviner who foretells events by unusual occurrences

• Albanian: faltore (sq)
• Bulgarian: гадател (bg) (gadatel), птицегадател (pticegadatel), прорицател (proricatel)
• Czech: augur (cs) m, ptakopravec m
• Dutch: waarzegger (nl) m, wichelaar (nl) m
• Esperanto: aŭguristo
• Finnish: ennustaja (fi), auguuri (fi)
• French: augure (fr) m
• Galician: augur m
• Georgian: მისანი (ka) (misani)
• German: Augur (de) m, Wahrsager (de) m, Hellseher (de) m
• Hungarian: augur (hu)
• Ido: auguristo (io)
• Irish: ágar m
• Italian: augure (it) m
• Latin: augur m, auspex m
• Macedonian: га́тач m (gátač), а́вгур m (ávgur)
• Maori: matakite, matatuhi
• Persian: فالگیر (fa) (fâlgir), مروانیش (morvâniš)
• Polish: augur (pl) m, wróżbita (pl) m, wróżbitka (pl) f
• Portuguese: áugure m or f
• Russian: авгу́р (ru) m (avgúr), прорица́тель (ru) m (proricátelʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: fiosaiche m, eun-druidh m
• Spanish: augur (es) m
• Turkish: falcı (tr), kâhin (tr)

Ancient Rome

• Asturian: augur (ast)
• Polish: augur (pl) m

Verb

augur (third-person singular simple present augurs, present participle auguring, simple past and past participle augured)

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

   to augur well or ill

   • 2024 May 9, Ned Temko, “On rare visit, Xi Jinping tries to rescue China’s relationship with Europe”, in The Christian Science Monitor:

     But there, too, the meteorological omens augured ill.

   • 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:

     Whether term limits would augur a return of justices with broader experience in public life is debatable.

Derived terms

• augural
• augury

Translations

to foretell events; to exhibit signs of future events

• Asturian: augurar (ast)
• Bulgarian: предсказвам (bg) (predskazvam), предвещавам (bg) (predveštavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 預示／预示 (zh) (yùshì)

• Czech: věštit, věstit
• Dutch: waarzeggen (nl), voorspellen (nl)
• Esperanto: aŭguri
• Finnish: ennustaa (fi)
• French: augurer (fr)
• Galician: agoirar (gl)
• Georgian: მისნობა (misnoba)
• German: die Zukunft vorhersagen, wahrsagen (de), hellsehen
• Hungarian: jósol (hu)
• Ido: augurar (io)
• Italian: augurare (it)
• Latin: augurō
• Polish: wróżyć (pl), przepowiadać (pl), zapowiadać (pl)
• Portuguese: augurar (pt), pressagiar (pt)
• Russian: предвеща́ть (ru) (predveščátʹ), предска́зывать (ru) (predskázyvatʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: fàisnich
• Spanish: augurar (es), presagiar (es)
• Swedish: båda (sv)
• Turkish: fal bakmak

Usage notes

Not to be confused with auger.

Further reading

• “augur”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “augur”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “augur”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Latin

Etymology

Of uncertain origin. Two possibilities are:

• From Old Latin *augos (“reinforcement, increase”) (genitive *augeris), related to augeō (“to increase”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwgos; compare Sanskrit ओजस् (ojas, “strength, vigor”), Avestan 𐬀𐬊𐬘𐬀𐬵 (aojah), 𐬀𐬊𐬔𐬀𐬵 (aogah, “might, power”) as well as Latin augustus (< *h₂éwgos-tos). The noun *augos would have developed from "reinforcement" to "(one) who makes grow". This derivation is preferred by de Vaan.
• From avis (“bird”) + garrire (“to talk”), as augurs were known to observe the behavior of birds.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈau̯.ɡur/, [ˈäu̯ɡʊr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈau̯.ɡur/, [ˈäːu̯ɡur]

Noun

augur m or f (genitive auguris); third declension

1. augur (priest, diviner, or soothsayer, one who foretold the future in part by interpreting the song and flight of birds)
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 1.179–180:

     ad prīmam vōcem timidās advertitis aurēs,
     et vīsam prīmum cōnsulit augur avem.

     You turn timid ears to the first word spoken,
     and the augur interprets the first bird seen.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	augur	augurēs
genitive	auguris	augurum
dative	augurī	auguribus
accusative	augurem	augurēs
ablative	augure	auguribus
vocative	augur	augurēs

Synonyms

• auspex

Coordinate terms

• haruspex, auspex

Derived terms

• augurium
• augurō

Descendants

• → Catalan: àugur
• → English: augur
  • → Irish: ágar
• → French: augure
• → Koine Greek: αὔγουρ (aúgour)
• → Italian: augure
• → Portuguese: áugure
• → Romanian: augur
• → Russian: авгу́р m (avgúr)
• → Sicilian: àuguri
• → Turkish: uğur
• → Spanish: augur

References

• “augur”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “augur”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• augur in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “augur”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “augur”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• “augur”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Middle English

Noun

augur

1. Alternative form of nauger

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin augur.

Noun

augur m (definite singular auguren, indefinite plural augurer, definite plural augurene)

1. (historical) an augur, see English augur for more.
2. (informal) a chief, bigwig

References

• “augur” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “augur” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin augur.

Noun

augur m (definite singular auguren, indefinite plural augurar, definite plural augurane)

1. (historical) an augur, see English augur for more.
2. (informal) a chief, bigwig

References

• “augur” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin augur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaw.ɡur/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -awɡur
• Syllabification: au‧gur

Noun

augur m pers

1. (literary) augur (a diviner)
2. (Ancient Rome) augur (an official who interpreted omens before the start of public events)

Declension

Declension of augur

	singular	plural
nominative	augur	augurzy/augury (deprecative)
genitive	augura	augurów
dative	augurowi	augurom
accusative	augura	augurów
instrumental	augurem	augurami
locative	augurze	augurach
vocative	augurze	augurzy

Further reading

• augur in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• augur in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French augure, from Latin augur, augurium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /awˈɡur/

Noun

augur m (plural auguri)

1. augur, auspex

Noun

augur n (uncountable)

1. augury, omen

Related terms

• augura

Further reading

• augur in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin augur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /auˈɡuɾ/ [au̯ˈɣ̞uɾ]
• Rhymes: -uɾ
• Syllabification: au‧gur

Noun

augur m (plural augures)

1. augur

Related terms

• agorar
• agüero
• augural
• augurar
• augurio

 

Further reading

• “augur”, in Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy, 2023 November 28

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin augur.

Noun

augur c

1. augur

Declension

Declension of augur

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	augur	augurs
	definite	auguren	augurens
plural	indefinite	augurer	augurers
	definite	augurerna	augurernas

Derived terms

• augurleende

References

• augur in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• augur in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• augur in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)