Augury
noun /ˈɔːɡjʊri/ — A sign of what is to come — an omen read from the world.
Definition
An omen; a sign of things to come; the practice of interpreting natural signs — particularly the flight of birds — to predict the future.
Beyond the definition
The augurs of ancient Rome read the flight of birds to determine whether a military campaign should proceed. Today augury describes any sign we read from the world as a portent of what's coming — the bad feeling before a decision, the small thing that correctly predicts a large thing.
Origin & history
From Latin augurium, from augur — the Roman priestly official who interpreted omens, particularly the flight and feeding patterns of birds. The root may connect to avis 'bird'.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
The silence of the room when she walked in was, in retrospect, an augury of everything that followed.
He was not superstitious, but he privately took the three broken strings as an augury against the tour.
Ancient armies consulted augury before every major campaign — no battle without a reading of the signs.
Synonyms
Antonyms
certainty, fact, proof
Related words
Word in the Wild
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Fictional scene
Observatory telescope and planets
An adult uses an observatory telescope, while a solar-system mobile hangs above, showing planets on curved wires.
Historically, the movement of the planets was used as an augury to predict the future. The telescope and the model represent the human effort to read signs in the natural world, seeking authoritative answers about what lies ahead.
Image credit: Wordspun · AI-generated conceptual illustration