augury
Americannoun
plural
auguries-
the art or practice of an augur; divination.
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the rite or ceremony of an augur.
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an omen, token, or indication.
noun
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the art of or a rite conducted by an augur
-
a sign or portent; omen
Usage
What does augury mean? Augury is the practice of auguring—attempting to predict the future based on interpreting omens or in some other mystical way.The word augur can also be used as a noun to refer to a kind of prophet, oracle, or soothsayer—a person who is said to be able to predict the future by using some mystical ability or means. Augury can refer to the practice of such an augur or to a specific ceremony or rite used by an augur.Augur can also be used in a more specific way to refer to an Ancient Roman official who acted as soothsayer or priest. Such augurs were responsible for augury that involved interpreting omens to guide decisions. Roman lawmakers would consult augurs before officially taking a position.Augury can also be used to refer to an omen, sign, or indication of something, as in Red skies in the morning are known to sailors as an augury of bad weather.Example: Regardless of what form of augury they claim to use, no one can truly predict the future.
Other Word Forms
- augural adjective
Etymology
Origin of augury
1325–75; Middle English < Latin augurium soothsaying, equivalent to augur augur 1 + -ium -ium
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“My life and myself were born under the sea,” she wrote, under the augury of “the star of Aphrodite.”
From Los Angeles Times
“We have a city founded by the auspices and augury,” the Roman historian Livy wrote.
From New York Times
The original Hammer, in a weird augury of the recently unveiled Orange County Museum of Art’s new facility, opened to the public before the building was finished.
From Los Angeles Times
The film comes to us under equally fine auguries — and auspices.
From Los Angeles Times
Williams sometimes wondered in interviews if that humiliating experience might have been a backhanded augury of her future.
From Seattle Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
