Advertisement

Origin and history of auspicious

auspicious(adj.)

1590s, "of good omen" (implied in auspiciously), from Latin auspicium "divination by observing the flight of birds," from auspex (genitive auspicis) + -ous. Related: Auspiciousness.

also from 1590s

Entries linking to auspicious

auspex(n.)

"one who observes flights of birds for the purpose of taking omens," 1590s, from Latin auspex "interpreter of omens given by birds," from PIE *awi-spek- "observer of birds," from root *awi- "bird" + root *spek- "to observe." Compare Greek oionos "bird of prey," also "bird of omen, omen," and ornis "bird," which also could mean "omen."

inauspicious(adj.)

"ill-omened, unlucky, unfavorable," 1590s, from in- (1) "not, opposite of" + auspicious. Related: Inauspiciously; inauspiciousness. The Latin word was inauspicatus "without auspices; with bad auspices," which had a brief career in English as inauspicate (17c.).

Advertisement

More to explore

prosperous
early 15c., "favorable, auspicious, tending to bring success;" late 15c., "flourishing, successful, making good progress...
Uranus
gratitude, by giving the name of Georgium Sidus ... to a star which (with respect to us) first began to shine under His auspicious...
Benjamin
The right was regarded as auspicious (see left and dexterity)....
golden
.; that of "favorable, auspicious" is from c. 1600....
sinister
Thus sinister also retained a secondary sense in Latin of "favorable, auspicious, fortunate, lucky."...
fair
From c. 1300 as "promising good fortune, auspicious." Also from c. 1300 as "above average, considerable, sizable."...
prejudice
c. 1300, "despite, contempt," from Old French prejudice "a prejudice, prejudgment; damage" (13c.) and directly from Medieval Latin prejudicium "injustice," from Latin praeiudicium "prior judgment, judicial examination before trial; damage, harm," from prae- "before" (see pre-) +
orient
late 14c., "the direction east; the part of the horizon where the sun first appears," also (now with capital O-) "the eastern regions of the world, eastern countries" (originally vaguely meaning the region east and south of Europe, what is now called the Middle East but also some
glory
c. 1200, gloire "the splendor of God or Christ; praise offered to God, worship," from Old French glorie "glory (of God); worldly honor, renown; splendor, magnificence, pomp" (11c., Modern French gloire), from Latin gloria "fame, renown, great praise or honor," a word of uncertain
charm
c. 1300, "incantation, magic charm," from Old French charme (12c.) "magic charm, magic spell incantation; song, lamentation," from Latin carmen "song, verse, enchantment, religious formula," from canere "to sing" (from PIE root *kan- "to sing"), with dissimilation of -n- to -r- b

Share auspicious

Advertisement
Trending
Dictionary entries near auspicious
Advertisement