Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Augur |
AugurNoun1. (in ancient Rome) a religious official who interpreted omens to guide public policy. Verb1. Indicate by signs; "These signs bode bad news". 2. Predict from an omen. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "augur" was first used: 14th century. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
19th Century Satire | One who bored the ancients with prophecies. Source: Foolish Dictionary, 1904. |
Dream Interpretation | To see augurs in your dreams, is a forecast of labor and toil. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted .... |
Tips from 1870 | Usage: Argue, Augur. "The hollow whistling of the wind among the trees argues an approaching storm." Use augurs. Source: Slips of Speech. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The Augur was a priest or official in ancient Rome. His main role was take auspices, that is interpreting the will of the gods by studying the flight of the birds.
The position as augur was a very central one, as the Romans rarely did anything important without the consensus of the gods, as expressed in the auspices.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Augur."
Synonyms: AugurSynonyms: auspex (n), auspicate (v), betoken (v), bode (v), forecast (v), foreshadow (v), foretell (v), omen (v), portend (v), predict (v), prefigure (v), presage (v), prognosticate (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Hope | Give hope, inspire hope, raise hope, hold out hope; Noun: promise, bid fair, augur well, be in a fair way, look up, flatter, tell a flattering tale; raise expectations; encourage, cheer, assure, reassure, buoy up, embolden. |
Oracle | Noun: oracle; prophet, prophesier, seer, soothsayer, augur, fortune teller, crystal gazer, witch, geomancer, aruspex; aruspice, haruspice; haruspex; astrologer, star gazer; Sibyl; Python, Pythoness; Pythia; Pythian oracle, Delphian oracle; Monitor, Sphinx, Tiresias, Cassandra, Sibylline leaves; Zadkiel, Old Moore; sorcerer; interpreter. |
Prediction | Presage, augur, bode; abode, forebode; foretoken, betoken; prefigure, preshow; portend; foreshow, foreshadow; shadow forth, typify, pretypify, ominate, signify, point to. |
Rotation | Carousel, merry-go-round; Ferris wheel; top, dreidel,teetotum; gyroscope; turntable, lazy suzan; screw, whirligig, rollingstone, water wheel, windmill; wheel, pulley wheel, roulette wheel, potter's wheel, pinwheel, gear; roller; flywheel; jack; caster; centrifuge, ultracentrifuge, bench centrifuge, refrigerated centrifuge, gas centrifuge, microfuge; drill, augur, oil rig; wagon wheel, wheel, tire, tyre. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Augur |
| English words defined with "augur": Angurize, Augurate, Augured, Augurer, Auguring, Augurist, Augurship ♦ Cross handle. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "augur": Accius Navius, Argue ♦ Hollow Stem Auger Drilling ♦ INAUSPICIOUSLY ♦ Shoes. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "augur": Exaugurate. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Augur" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. German (augur), Hungarian (augur), Romanian (augur, augury, omen), Spanish (augur), Swedish (augur). |
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | They augur no good for love slayers / World Telegram staff photo. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Portrait of Maj. Gen. Christopher C. Augur, officer of the Federal Army. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Play | Caption |
 | Brewing; brew; foreboding; forebode; clock; chime; augur; forecast; forerun; foreshow; foretell; harbinger; herald; indicate; portend; predict; presage; signal; signify; betoken; bode; divine;; foresee; foreshadow; foretell; foretoken; forewarn; indicate. |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Emma | Austen, Jane | If he were to be very alert in engaging Jane Fairfax now, it might augur something |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | The colonnade above him made him think vaguely of an ancient temple and the ashplant on which he leaned wearily of the curved stick of an augur. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Business | These investments, together with the growth momentum from the last few years, augur well for the future of the aerospace industry in Singapore. (references) | |
However, robust growth in the economy this year, the skyrocketing level of paper consumption in China’s Pearl River Delta region, as well as various government initiatives on waste reduction augur well for the industry. (references) | ||
Economic History | Malaysia | An integrated health system with dual active participation of both public and private sectors will augur well for the health care system. (references) |
Philippines | This, plus the government and the industry's efforts in bringing down the prices of pharmaceutical products should augur well for the retail pharmaceutical industry. (references) | |
Hong Kong | Robust growth in Hong Kong's economy, the skyrocketing level of paper consumption in China's Pearl River Delta Region, as well as various government initiatives on waste reduction augur well for the recycled paper and paperboard industry. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | INAUSPICIOUSLY, adv. In an unpromising manner, the auspices being unfavorable. Among the Romans it was customary before undertaking any important action or enterprise to obtain from the augurs, or state prophets, some hint of its probable outcome; and one of their favorite and most trustworthy modes of divination consisted in observing the flight of birds -- the omens thence derived being called auspices. Newspaper reporters and certain miscreant lexicographers have decided that the word -- always in the plural -- shall mean "patronage" or "management"; as, "The festivities were under the auspices of the Ancient and Honorable Order of Body-Snatchers"; or, "The hilarities were auspicated by the Knights of Hunger." A Roman slave appeared one day Before the Augur. "Tell me, pray, If --" here the Augur, smiling, made A checking gesture and displayed His open palm, which plainly itched, For visibly its surface twitched. A denarius (the Latin nickel) Successfully allayed the tickle, And then the slave proceeded: "Please Inform me whether Fate decrees Success or failure in what I To-night (if it be dark) shall try. Its nature? Never mind -- I think 'Tis writ on this" -- and with a wink Which darkened half the earth, he drew Another denarius to view, Its shining face attentive scanned, Then slipped it into the good man's hand, Who with great gravity said: "Wait While I retire to question Fate." That holy person then withdrew His scared clay and, passing through The temple's rearward gate, cried "Shoo!" Waving his robe of office. Straight Each sacred peacock and its mate (Maintained for Juno's favor) fled With clamor from the trees o'erhead, Where they were perching for the night. The temple's roof received their flight, For thither they would always go, When danger threatened them below. Back to the slave the Augur went: "My son, forecasting the event By flight of birds, I must confess The auspices deny success." That slave retired, a sadder man, Abandoning his secret plan -- Which was (as well the craft seer Had from the first divined) to clear The wall and fraudulently seize On Juno's poultry in the trees. G.J. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Augur" is generally used as a lexical verb (infinitive) -- approximately 71.43% of the time. "Augur" is used about 42 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 71.43% | 30 | 63,341 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 28.57% | 12 | 101,599 |
| Total | 100.00% | 42 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "augur": augur ill ♦ augur well ♦ augur well for ♦ screw augur. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
augur | 33 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "augur"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | profetizoj (divine, foretell, prophesy, soothsay), parathem (foretell, predict, prophesy, read, soothsay, vaticinate), ndjell (cluck, conjure, entice, evoke, forebode), fatthënës (fortune teller), falltar (fortune teller, palmist, soothsayer). (various references) | |
Arabic | كان نذيرا, كان دلالة على, منجم (mine, pit), تكهن (auspice, divine, forecast, foretell, omen, predict, prediction, prognostic, prognosticate, prognostication, surmise, tip), تنبأ بالمستقبل, العراف (astrologer, enchanter, seer, soothsayer, warlock, witchdoctor, wizard). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | вещая (bode, forebode, portend, presage, prognosticate), предугаждам (foresee, foretell, prevent), предсказвам (forecast, foresay, foretell, predict, presage, prognosticate, promise, prophesy), предвещавам (adumbrate, betoken, bode, forerun, foreshadow, portend, presage, prognosticate, shadow, spell, threaten), птицегадател. (various references) | |
Czech | vìstit (bode, portend). (various references) | |
Dutch | wichelaar (diviner, fortune teller, soothsayer), waarzegger (diviner, fortune teller, soothsayer), voorspeller (diviner, fortune teller, prophet, soothsayer). (various references) | |
Farsi | فالگیر, فال بین , غیب گو, شگون (Auspices, Presage). (various references) | |
French | augure (augury), prévoir, présager, prédire. (various references) | |
German | verheißen (promise, to augur). (various references) | |
Greek | προοιωνίζομαι (bode). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מ'י" עתי"ות (clairvoyant, fortune teller, soothsayer), לבשר (bode, bring good news, forebode, foreshadow, portend, presage, promise), ל חש (conjecture, divine, estimate, figure out, foretell, guess, predict, surmise). (various references) | |
Hungarian | madárjós, látnok (clairvoyant, prophet, seer, visionary), jós (diviner, foreboder, forecaster, fortune teller, fortune-teller, oracle, predictor, prophet, prophetic, seer, soothsayer), augur. (various references) | |
Italian | augure, augurare (bid, wish), promettere (bode, pledge, promise, show promise, to promise), presagire (bode, forebode, foresee, foretell, foretoken, predict, presage), predire (forecast, foretell, predict, prophesy, to predict), essere di auspicio. (various references) | |
Manx | insh rolaue (bode, foretell, predict), ginsh ro laue, faaishneyder (charmer, diviner, predictor). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | auguray.(various references) | |
Portuguese | augurar (forecast, omen, prophesy, wish), agourar (bode, forebode, forecast, foretell, omen, portend, predict, presage, prognosticate, prophesy), adivinho (fortune-teller, powwow, prophet, soothsayer, wizard), sacerdote agoureiro, prognosticar (divine, forebode, forecast, foretell, foretold, portend, prognosticate), profeta (oracle, predictor, prophet, seer, soothsayer), pressagiar (bespeak, betoken, bode, forebode, forecast, foreshadow, foretell, foretold, omen, portend, prelude, prognosticate, prophesy, threaten), áugure. (various references) | |
Romanian | augur (augury, omen), profet (diviner, oracle, predictor, prophesier, prophet, seer, soothsayer), prevestitor (augural, foreboding, harbinger, ominous, portentous, precursor, premonitory, prophetic), prevesti (auspicate, betoken, bode, divine, forebode, forerun, foreshadow, foreshow, foretell, foretoken, harbinger, portend, predict, presage, prognosticate, promise, threaten). (various references) | |
Russian | гадать, авгур, прорицатель (diviner), предсказывать судьбу, предсказывать (divine, forecast, foretell, predict, prognosticate, prophesy, soothsay, vaticinate), предвещать авгур. (various references) | |
Scottish | tora (auger), tarachair. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | prorok (diviner, oracle, prophet, seer, soothsayer), proricati (foreshadow, predict, presage, soothsay, vaticinate). (various references) | |
Spanish | augur. (various references) | |
Swedish | augur, teckentydare, spå (divine, foretell, tell a person his fortune), sia om, förutspå (predict), förebåda (adumbrate, bode, forebode, foreshadow, foretell, foretoken, omen, portend, presage, prognosticate, promise). (various references) | |
Thai | เป็นลางร้าย (augur ill), เป็นลาง"ี (augur well). (various references) | |
Turkish | alâmet olmak (bode), müneccim (astrologer), kehanette bulunmak (cast, denounce, divine, foretell, omen, oracle, predict, presage, prognosticate, prophesy, soothsay, vaticinate), kâhin (diviner, oracle, predictor, prophet, seer, soothsayer), işareti olmak (bode, denote, portend, signify), falcı (diviner, fortune teller, seer, Warlock), önceden bildirmek. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | віщун (anticipator, chaldean, diviner, forecaster, predictor, prophesier, prophet, soothsayer), авгур, прорікати (omen), передвіщати (betoken, bode, omen, promise, warrant). (various references) | |
Welsh | argoeli (betoken, bode, portend), dewin (diviner, enchanter, mage, magician, sorcerer, warlock, wizard), darogan (bode, forebode, foreboding, foretell, predict, prediction). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | avis. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "augur": augural, augured, augurer, augurers, auguries, auguring, augurs, augury. (additional references) | |
Words containing "augur": inaugural, inaugurals, inaugurate, inaugurated, inaugurates, inaugurating, inauguration, inaugurations, inaugurator, inaugurators, postinaugural, preinaugural. (additional references) | |
| |
"Augur" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: ager, agur, Aguri, aguru, aguur, Aigu, Aiguer, Aigun, Ainur, Atgor, Aucun, aufur, auga, Augar, Augee, augera, augere, augero, Aughrim, augor, augru, augua, augue, augure, auguri, augus, auguur, auug, auurgh, Auuua, Auyu, Ayubu, Azgul, Eugui, Kuguru, Magugu, Nagpur, Ougoure, Ougure, Ozgur, Saugor, Saugur, sauour. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "augur" (pronounced ô"ger) |
| 3 | ô" g er | auger, Mauger. |
| 2 | -g er | eager, Eger, Egger, enlarger, agar, anger, Armiger, beggar, beleaguer, bigger, bootlegger, Bragger, bugger, Bulger, burger, burgher, carpetbagger, cataloger, cheeseburger, cougar, dagger, digger, finger, fishmonger, forefinger, gager, gangbanger, hamburger, hugger, hunger, Jaeger, Jager, Jagger, jogger, lager, leaguer, linger, logger, longer, luger, meager, monger, mugger, ogre, outrigger, overeager, rigor, Sager, sandbagger, Slugger, stagger, sugar, swager, swagger, tiger, trigger, vaguer, vigor, vinegar, vulgar, warmonger, younger. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-g-r-u-u" | |
-1 letter: gaur, guar, guru, ruga. | |
-2 letters: gar, rag, rug. | |
-3 letters: ag, ar. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-g-r-u-u" | |
+1 letter: augurs, augury. | |
+2 letters: arugula, augural, augured, augurer, jugular, unguard, ungular. | |
+3 letters: arugulas, augurers, auguries, auguring, auguster, faubourg, guttural, jugulars, mudguard, outargue, unargued, unguards. | |
+4 letters: faubourgs, fulgurant, fulgurate, garrulous, gutturals, inaugural, mudguards, outargued, outargues, sugarplum, unguarded. | |
+5 letters: argumentum, courageous, fulgurated, fulgurates, glamourous, gratuitous, guardhouse, inaugurals, inaugurate, jaguarundi, juggernaut, languorous, outarguing, outrageous, subjugator, sugarhouse, sugarplums, surplusage, umbrageous, unalluring, unarguable, unarguably, ungraceful, ungracious, ungrateful, unguarding. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Sounds 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
