herald
- (formerly) a royal or official messenger, especially one representing a monarch in an ambassadorial capacity during wartime.
- a person or thing that precedes or comes before; forerunner; harbinger: the returning swallows, those heralds of spring.
- a person or thing that proclaims or announces: A good newspaper should be a herald of truth.
- (in the Middle Ages) an officer who arranged tournaments and other functions, announced challenges, marshaled combatants, etc., and who was later employed also to arrange processions, funerals, etc., and to regulate the use of armorial bearings.
- an official intermediate in rank between a king-of-arms and a pursuivant, in the Heralds' College in England or the Heralds' Office in Scotland.
- 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.
Origin of herald
Synonyms for herald
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comRelated Words for herald
adviser, harbinger, bearer, courier, reporter, precursor, prophet, signal, token, sign, runner, forerunner, indication, crier, outrider, publicize, tout, ballyhoo, show, trumpetExamples from the Web for herald
Contemporary Examples of herald
Check: “This atom smashing business is going to herald the final victory of the machine.”
The Herald asked her to be a freelance reporter, but not because of her notorious status.
Amanda Knox, Cub Reporter: The Convicted Murderer Is Now Writing Theater Reviews for a Small Seattle PaperJustin Miller
November 4, 2014
One of the reporters from New York was Herbert Bayard Swope, then of the Herald.
Foss occasionally supplied pulpits in Baltimore and its suburbs, to the derision of the Herald agnostics.
A smaller headline in the Herald Tribune stated that Black September, headed by Ali Salameh, had taken credit for the operation.
Mossad’s Greatest Female Assassin: An Excerpt From ‘Sylvia Rafael’Ram Oren, Moti Kfir
September 20, 2014
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 LoversSt. John G. Ervine
He felt much happier when he left the Herald offices than he had felt when he entered them.
The Foolish LoversSt. John G. Ervine
Her broad back had been unrecognized by the herald, careless in her haste.
Meadow GrassAlice Brown
When she came to Plattville, he told her what the editor of the "Herald" had done for him.
The Gentleman From IndianaBooth Tarkington
herald
- a person who announces important news
- (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
- to announce publicly
- to precede or usher in
Word Origin for herald
Word Origin and History for herald
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).
late 14c., "to sound the praises of," from herald (n.). Related: Heralded; heralding.