augur

noun

1. A diviner who foretells events by the behaviour of birds or other animals, or by signs derived from celestial phenomena, or unusual occurrences.

   “Augur of ill, whoſe tongue was never found / Without a prieſtly curſe, or boding ſound; [...]”

2. (Ancient-Rome)An official who interpreted omens before the start of public events.

   “It was an ancient tradition, that when the Capitol was founded by one of the Roman kings, the god Terminus (who presided over boundaries, and was represented, according to the fashion of that age, by a large stone) alone, among all the inferior deities, refused to yield his place to Jupiter himself. A favorable inference was drawn from his obstinacy, which was interpreted by the augurs as a sure presage that the boundaries of the Roman power would never recede.”

verb

1. To foretell events; to exhibit signs of future events; to indicate a favorable or an unfavorable outcome.

   “to augur well or ill”

   “The train was well filled, with quite an amount of intermediate business; but station staff and passengers alike seemed ready enough to "look lively", and the result was a general "slickness" in working that augers^([sic]) well for the future.”

   “But there, too, the meteorological omens augured ill.”

   “Whether term limits would augur a return of justices with broader experience in public life is debatable.”

   “As Ellmann was quietly assembling materials for his biography, specialization was on the rise in American literature departments, as the critic Erich Auerbach warned, auguring the decline of a general humanities education.”