augury, augurie

[In Fr. augure; O. Fr. aür, whence in Mod. Fr. comes malheur = misfortune = Old Fr. mal aür; in Lat. malum augurum = evil augury. In Sp. aguëro; from Prov. augior, augur an omen; Port. & Ital. augurio Ger. & Lat. augurium; from avis = bird, and gur = telling. Gur appears again in Lat. garrio = to chatter, and garrulus chattering, and is from Sanse. gur and gri = to shout. ( Max Müller : Science of Language, 6th ed., vol. ii., 1871, pp. 265, 266.).] I. The act or practice of pretending to prognosticate future events. 373 1. After the manner of the old Roman college of augurs [AUGUR], namely, by noting the flight or singing of particular birds; the avidity or otherwise with which the sacred chickens devoured their food; the movements of quadrupeds; and the occurrence of lightning, thunder, or both, in particular parts of the sky. "And they inquired of the gods by augury to know which of them should give his name to the city."Arnold: Hist. Rome , ch. 1. 2. In any other way. "The very children who pre ed to see him pa observed, and long remembered, that his look was sad and full of evil augury ." - Macaulay: Hist. Eng., ch. v. 3. An augural rite or ceremony. II. That which is augured; an omen; a prognostication; a prophecy; a vaticination. "If such thy will, dispatch from yonder sky Thy sacred bird, celestial augury !" Pope: Homer's Iliad , bk, xxiv., 381-2. âu-gŭst', a . [In Fr. auguste Lat. august us =(1) sacred, venerable, (2) majestic, august; either from augeo to cause to increase, or from augur . A title given by the Roman Senate to Oct avian us when confirming him in the imperial dignity.] Sacred, majestic; fitted to inspire reverence; not to be touched without awe. Used 1. Of royal or princely personages: "Her Majesty, and three, at least, of her august daughters, were amongst the subscribers to the fund." -De Quincey: Works (ed. 1863), vol. ii., p. 26. 2. Of anything appertaining to such digna taries: "He was far too wise a man not to know, when he consented to shed that august blood that of Charles L.). that he was doing a deed which was inexpiable."Macaulay: Hist . Eng ., ch. i. 3. In a more general sense, of anything grand and magnificent: "And still let man his fabrics rear, August in beauty, grace, and strength." Hemans: ley Song. 4. Of the Divine Being or His arrangements for the government of the universe: "The trumpet-will it sound, the curtain rise, And show th' august tribunal of the skies." Cowper: Retirement.