augury
/ˈɔːɡjʊri
/noun (plural auguries)
1A sign of what will happen in the future; an omen: they heard the sound as an augury of death...
- But the auguries for the future are more ambiguous.
- They are also auguries of the future: what was won for women and for racial and ethnic minorities will surely be won, in the lifetimes of some of us, for gay and lesbian couples.
- For one thing, political and economic auguries, specific market conditions, and likely future trends need all to be taken into account.
1.1 [mass noun] The interpretation of omens.A brace of dead geese, embodying the classical Roman method of augury, act as an image of mortality....
- As Hamlet remarked, ‘We defy augury… The readiness is all’.
- And by the way, Ganesha is an icon of good augury in almost all Asian countries.
Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense 'divination'): from Old French augurie or Latin augurium 'interpretation of omens', from augur (see augur).