Word of the Day: Auspice

NOUN 1. A divine or prophetic token.

Example Sentences.
1. "Gregory was superstitious about all kinds of auspices and omens."
2. "Some cultures consider finding an acorn a good auspice."
3. "My aunt thought a swallow sighting was a favorable auspice."

Word Origin.
Latin, mid-16th century

Those who encounter a prophetic sign or omen can use another word to describe such a phenomenon: "auspice," which means "a prophetic token that symbolizes a future event." "Auspice" came into English in the mid-16th century from Latin, and originally referred to a divination practice of observing a bird in flight. In Latin, "auspex" means "observer of birds," and can be broken into "avis" ("bird") and "specere" ("to look"). ...