Augur

WORD OF THE DAY

augur / verb / AW-gur

Definition
1: to foretell especially from omens
2a: to give promise of
2b: presage

Example
"This year, MLS has increased the pipeline that is in place for women to be leaders at the team level. This is exemplified by the number of groundbreaking hires that have occurred. ... The addition of these women in their team front offices augurs well for the future."
— Richard Lapchick, ESPN.com, 9 Nov. 2021

ByteDance’s growth in emerging markets could be an augur of what’s to come.
—  Chris Stokel-walker, Wired, 22 Nov. 2021

Did You Know?
In ancient Rome, augurs were official diviners whose function it was to divine whether the gods approved of a proposed undertaking, such as a military move.
They did so by various means, among them observing the behavior of birds and examining the entrails of sacrificed animals.
 We doubt the Romans predicted that augur would eventuate into a verb meaning “presage or foretell,” but in retrospect, augur’s path must have been in the stars.