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herald

[her-uhld]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR herald ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

verb (used with object)

to give news or tidings of; announce; proclaim: a publicity campaign to herald a new film.
to indicate or signal the coming of; usher in.

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RELATED WORDS

adviser, harbinger, bearer, courier, reporter, precursor, prophet, signal, token, sign, runner, forerunner, indication, crier, outrider, publicize, tout, ballyhoo, show, trumpet

Origin of herald

1300–50; Middle English herau(l)d < Old French herau(l)t < Frankish *heriwald, equivalent to *heri army + *wald commander (see wield). Compare name Harold

Synonyms for herald

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR herald ON THESAURUS.COM
7. publicize, ballyhoo, tout.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for herald

Contemporary Examples of herald

Historical Examples of herald

  • It thinks that the Herald is not the leading paper, though it may have Ben-it.

  • Hinde had recently been appointed editor of the Evening Herald.

    The Foolish Lovers

    St. John G. Ervine

  • He felt much happier when he left the Herald offices than he had felt when he entered them.

    The Foolish Lovers

    St. John G. Ervine

  • Her broad back had been unrecognized by the herald, careless in her haste.

    Meadow Grass

    Alice Brown

  • When she came to Plattville, he told her what the editor of the "Herald" had done for him.

British Dictionary definitions for herald

herald

noun

  1. a person who announces important news
  2. (as modifier)herald angels
often literary a forerunner; harbinger
the intermediate rank of heraldic officer, between king-of-arms and pursuivant
(in the Middle Ages) an official at a tournament

verb (tr)

to announce publicly
to precede or usher in

Word Origin for herald

C14: from Old French herault, of Germanic origin; compare Old English here war; see wield
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for herald
n.

late 13c. (in Anglo-Latin); c.1200 as a surname, "messenger, envoy," from Anglo-French heraud, Old French heraut, hiraut (12c.), perhaps from Frankish *hariwald "commander of an army," from Proto-Germanic *harja "army" (from PIE root *koro- "war;" see harry) + *waldaz "to command, rule" (see wield). The form fits, but the sense evolution is difficult to explain, unless in reference to the chief officer of a tournament, who introduced knights and made decisions on rules (which was one of the early senses, often as heraud of armes, though not the earliest in English).

v.

late 14c., "to sound the praises of," from herald (n.). Related: Heralded; heralding.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper