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Origin and history of harbinger

harbinger(n.)

late 15c., herbengar "one sent ahead to arrange lodgings" (for a monarch, an army, etc.), alteration of Middle English herberger "provider of shelter, innkeeper" (late 12c.), from Old French herbergeor "one who offers lodging, innkeeper," agent noun from herbergier "provide lodging," from herber "lodging, shelter," from Frankish *heriberga "lodging, inn" (cognate with Old Saxon, Old High German heriberga "army shelter"), from Germanic compound *harja-bergaz "shelter, lodgings," which is also the source of harbor (n.). Sense of "forerunner, that which precedes and gives notice of the coming of another" is mid-16c. The unetymological -n- is from 15c. (see messenger). As a verb, from 1640s (harbinge "to lodge" is late 15c.).

also from late 15c.

Entries linking to harbinger

harbor(n.)

"lodging for ships; sheltered recess in a coastline," early 12c., a specialized sense of Middle English herberwe "temporary dwelling place, quarters, lodgings; an inn; the camp of an army in the field," probably from Old English here-beorg (West Saxon), *here-berg (Anglian) "lodgings, quarters," from Proto-Germanic compound *harja-bergaz "shelter, lodgings," from *heri "army, host" (see harry (v.)) + *burzjan- "protection, shelter" (from PIE root *bhergh- (1) "to hide, protect"). Perhaps modeled on Old Norse herbergi "room, lodgings, quarters."

messenger(n.)

c. 1200, messager (late 12c. as a surname), "one who bears a message; the bearer of a verbal or written communication," from Old French messagier "messenger, envoy, ambassador," from message (see message (n.)). With unetymological -n- inserted by c. 1300 for no apparent reason except that people liked to say it that way (compare passenger, harbinger, scavenger). From c. 1200 as "a harbinger, forerunner, precursor" (in reference to John the Baptist as the precursor of Christ).

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passenger
mid-14c., passager "a passer-by; a traveler," from Old French passagier, passageor "traveler, passer-by" (Modern French passager), noun use of passagier (adj.) "passing, fleeting, traveling," from passage "mountain pass, passage" (11c.), from passer "to go by," from Vulgar Latin
scavenger
1540s, originally "person hired to remove refuse from streets," a modification of Middle English scavager, scawageour (late 14c.), the title of a London official who originally was charged with collecting tax on goods sold by foreign merchants. This is from Middle English scavage
announce
c. 1500, "proclaim, make known formally," from Old French anoncier "announce, proclaim" (12c., Modern French annoncer), from Latin annuntiare, adnuntiare "to announce, make known," literally "bring news to," from ad "to" (see ad-) + nuntiare "relate, report," from nuntius "messen
orthopraxy
["The Millennial Harbinger," vol. iv, no. 8, Bethany, Virginia, August 1840]...
prophet
prophète) and directly from Latin propheta, from Greek prophētēs (Doric prophatēs) "an interpreter, spokesman, proclaimer; a harbinger...
tell
Old English tellan "to reckon, calculate, number, compute; consider, think, esteem, account" (past tense tealde, past participle teald), from Proto-Germanic *taljan "to mention in order" (source also of Old Saxon tellian "tell," Old Norse telja "to count, number; to tell, say," O
herald
"messenger, envoy," late 13c. (in Anglo-Latin); c. 1200 as a surname, from Anglo-French heraud, Old French heraut, hiraut (12c.), from Frankish *hariwald "commander of an army" or a similar Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *harja "army" (from PIE root *koro- "war;" see harry)
predecessor
late 14c., predecessour, "one who has held an office or position before the present holder," from Old French predecesseor "forebear" and directly from Late Latin praedecessorem (nominative praedecessor) "one who has gone before," from Latin prae "before" (see pre-) + decessor "re
precursor
early 15c., precursoure, "a forerunner; that which precedes an event and indicates its approach," from Old French precurseur and directly from Latin praecursor "forerunner," agent noun from past-participle stem of praecurrere, from prae "before" (see pre-) + currere "to run" (fro
saute
"a dish cooked by being fried in a pan over high heat," 1813, from French sauté, literally "jumped, bounced" (in reference to tossing continually while cooking), past participle of sauter "to jump," from Latin saltare "to hop, dance," frequentative of salire "to leap" (see salien

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