harbinger en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈhɑːbɪndʒə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- härʹbĭnjər (US)
- /ˈhɑɹ.bɪn.d͡ʒəɹ/ (US)
- (US) audio
Etymology
Originally, a person sent in advance to arrange lodgings. From Middle English herberjour, herbergeour, from Old French herbergeor (French hébergeur), from herbergier (“to set up camp; to shelter; to take shelter”) + -or (suffix forming agent nouns), from Old High German heribergan, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *harjabergu (“army camp, shelter”). Compare German Herberge, Italian albergo, Dutch herberg, English harbor. More at here, bury.
Meanings
-
A person or thing that foreshadows or foretells the coming of someone or something.
I knew by these harbingers who were coming.
1828, Walter Savage Landor, Imaginary Conversations, Lord Brooke and Sir Philip Sidney:Make all our Trumpets ſpeak, giue thẽ all breath / Thoſe clamorous Harbingers of Blood, & Death
c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene vi], page 150, column 2:It’s to realize that Moon Frye, by cheerfully surveilling her own life, and those first Real Worlders, by agreeing to the constant presence of producers and cameras, were the harbingers of today’s culture, in which self-image is shaped in the expectation of a lens and personhood collates with brand identity.
2021 March 26, Alexis Soloski, “‘Kid 90’ and the Days When Even Wild TV Teens Had Privacy”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 28 Mar 2021:harbinger of danger; harbinger of doom; harbinger of spring
-
(obsolete) One who provides lodgings; especially, the officer of the English royal household who formerly preceded the court when travelling, to provide and prepare lodgings.
outward decency […] is the Harbinger to provide the lodging for inward holinesse
1644, Thomas Fuller, "Truth Maintained" (a sermon)
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| harbingers | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
harbinger-of-spring · harbingership
Synonyms
sign · forewarning · precursor · premonition · omen · signal · prophet · herald
Translations (59)
cs zvěstovatel (that which foretells the coming of something) · cy cennad (that which foretells the coming of something) · bg предвестник (that which foretells the coming of something) · da varsel (that which foretells the coming of something) · de Vorzeichen (that which foretells the coming of something) · fi sanansaattaja (that which foretells the coming of something) · it premonitore (that which foretells the coming of something) · it premonitrice (that which foretells the coming of something) · hu előhírnök (that which foretells the coming of something) · is fyrirboði (that which foretells the coming of something) · it precursore (that which foretells the coming of something) · es presagio (that which foretells the coming of something) · es heraldo (that which foretells the coming of something) · sh najava (that which foretells the coming of something) · cy rhagredegydd (that which foretells the coming of something) · it araldo (that which foretells the coming of something) · it presagio (that which foretells the coming of something) · vi điềm báo (that which foretells the coming of something) · el πρόδρομος (that which foretells the coming of something) · vi dấu hiệu (that which foretells the coming of something) · fi airut (that which foretells the coming of something) · sh nagovest (that which foretells the coming of something) · hu előjel (that which foretells the coming of something) · cmn 預兆 /预兆 (that which foretells the coming of something) · ru провозве́стник (that which foretells the coming of something) · de Omen (that which foretells the coming of something) · is undanfari (that which foretells the coming of something) · sh navesnik (that which foretells the coming of something) · de Vorbote (that which foretells the coming of something) · nl voorbode (that which foretells the coming of something) · la praenuntius (that which foretells the coming of something) · it profeta (that which foretells the coming of something) · ko 선구자 (that which foretells the coming of something) · es anunciante (that which foretells the coming of something) · af voorbode (that which foretells the coming of something) · sh predšasnik (that which foretells the coming of something) · sv förlöpare (that which foretells the coming of something) · pt presságio (that which foretells the coming of something) · it foriero (that which foretells the coming of something) · es anunciador (that which foretells the coming of something) · pl zwiastun (that which foretells the coming of something) · ko 전조 (that which foretells the coming of something) · hu előfutár (that which foretells the coming of something) · no forsmak (that which foretells the coming of something) · el προάγγελος (that which foretells the coming of something) · ca herald (that which foretells the coming of something) · eo omeno (that which foretells the coming of something) · sh nagoveštaj (that which foretells the coming of something) · is boðberi (that which foretells the coming of something) · fr présage (that which foretells the coming of something) · ga réamhtheachtaire (that which foretells the coming of something) · cs předzvěstník (that which foretells the coming of something) · ca anunciador (that which foretells the coming of something) · ru предве́стник (that which foretells the coming of something) · pt arauto (that which foretells the coming of something) · it messaggero (that which foretells the coming of something) · sv förebud (that which foretells the coming of something) · ja 前触れ (that which foretells the coming of something) · da forvarsel (that which foretells the coming of something)