harbinger

American  

[hahr-bin-jer] / ˈhɑr bɪn dʒər /

noun

1. a person who goes ahead and makes known the approach of another; herald.

2. anything that foreshadows a future event; omen; sign.

   Frost is a harbinger of winter.

   Synonyms:

   indication, portent, precursor, forerunner, herald

3. a person sent in advance of troops, a royal train, etc., to provide or secure lodgings and other accommodations.

---

verb (used with object)

1. to act as harbinger to; herald the coming of.

harbinger British  

/ ˈhɑːbɪndʒə /

noun

1. a person or thing that announces or indicates the approach of something; forerunner

2. obsolete a person sent in advance of a royal party or army to obtain lodgings for them

---

verb

1. (tr) to announce the approach or arrival of

Usage

What does harbinger mean? Harbinger most commonly means an omen or a sign of something to come.Harbinger can also mean a person sent ahead to make people aware that someone else is coming (such as a king) or to make preparations (such as for an army), but these meanings are much less common. Harbinger can also be used as a verb meaning to act as a sign or omen.Example: These flowers are always the first to bloom, so people consider them harbingers of spring.

Etymology

Origin of harbinger

First recorded in 1125–75; late Middle English herbenger, nasalized variant of Middle English herbegere, dissimilated variant of Old French herberg(i)ere “host,” equivalent to herberg(ier) “to shelter” (from Germanic; harbor ) + -iere -er ²

Example Sentences

At 28 years old, Jackson is coming off a difficult season marred by injuries that could serve as a harbinger of what’s to come as he enters the third act of his career.

From The Wall Street Journal

ADP’s private-sector employment report will come out on Wednesday, two days ahead of the government’s data, but is not often seen as a reliable harbinger.

From MarketWatch

It’s a delicate harbinger of the great catastrophe to come.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Dreamworld” opens, in the section “Waking Dream,” with harbingers of Surrealism—fusing classicism and modernism, reality and fantasy—by Giorgio de Chirico, whom Apollinaire described as a painter of things beyond the observable.

From The Wall Street Journal

It’s tough to find a holiday job this year but that’s not a harbinger of recession.

From Barron's

Related Words

• omen
• portent
• precursor