augur

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

• (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

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.

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.

   • 2025 June 16, Eric Bulson, “Yes I Will Read ‘Ulysses’ Yes”, in The Atlantic‎^[1], →ISSN:

     As Ellmann was quietly assembling materials for his biography, specialization was on the rise in American literature departments, as the critic Erich Auerbach warned, auguring the decline of a general humanities education.

• augural
• augury

Not to be confused with auger.

• “augur”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “augur”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “augur”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Of uncertain origin. Two possibilities are:

• From Old Latin *augos (“reinforcement, increase”) (genitive *augeris), related to augeō (“to increase”),^[1] 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".^[2] This derivation is preferred by de Vaan.
• From avis (“bird”) + garrire (“to talk”), as augurs were known to observe the behavior of birds.^[3]

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈau̯.ɡʊr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈaːu̯.ɡur]

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.

Third-declension noun.

• auspex

• haruspex, auspex

• augurium
• augurō

• “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
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “augur”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

augur

1. alternative form of nauger

From Latin augur.

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

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

From Latin augur.

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

• “augur” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Learned borrowing from Latin augur.

• IPA^(key): /ˈaw.ɡur/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -awɡur
• Syllabification: au‧gur

augur m pers

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

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

Borrowed from French augure, from Latin augur, augurium.

• IPA^(key): /awˈɡur/

augur m (plural auguri)

1. augur, auspex

augur n (uncountable)

1. augury, omen

• augura

• “augur”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

Borrowed from Latin augur.

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

augur m (plural augures)

1. augur

• “augur”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

Borrowed from Latin augur.

augur c

1. augur

• augurleende

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