Augury

I hoped the augury was a true one, but there were times when I doubted. ❋ Hugh Pendexter (1907)

I must again call attention to the phenomenon of echo-augury, that is to say, words heard in an unlooked-for quarter, that, without an appeal to our reason, impel belief. ❋ Unknown (1892)

Checked "augury" in my 1963 Webster's 7th New Collegiate Dictionary - the very same one I used in college all these years ago. ❋ Unknown (2009)

These, yoked to a consecrated chariot, are accompanied by the priest, and king, or chief person of the community, who attentively observe their manner of neighing and snorting; and no kind of augury is more credited, not only among the populace, but among the nobles and priests. ❋ Caius Cornelius Tacitus (N/A)

If one observe the movements and cries of birds or of any animals, or the sneezing of men, or the sudden movements of limbs, this belongs in general to "augury," which is so called from the chattering of birds (_avium garritu_), just as ❋ Aquinas Thomas (N/A)

This is a kind of augury, which consists of an enquiry whether the god allows them to request welfare for the State, as if it were unholy even to make a request for it until the action received sanction. ❋ Cassius Dio (N/A)

Paul in Lancs in the TMS inbox: "Re: Nicky in Brussels and his killer chickens, I would respectfully suggest the word 'augury' might be preferable to 'omen'; while omen and augury both now mean the same thing, the derivation of augury, being the practice in ancient Rome of divining the future through the observation of the action of birds, makes it more apt for use in the context of armed poultry combat." ❋ Unknown (2011)

"augury"; while the third consists in doing something in order to discover the occult; and this belongs to "sortilege." ❋ Aquinas Thomas (N/A)

Several economists saw Tuesday's numbers as great news for apartment builders and pointed to the shift as a promising augury for the housing market. ❋ Robbie Whelan (2011)

At this good augury, and while shuffling the deck, he called to the barkeepers to set up the drinks for the house. ❋ Unknown (2010)

When Fernando finally succeeds in launching his bomb, which kills an untold number of bystanders but misses the king and his bride, Mr. Pagani gives a brief augury of Mar í a's future: "Those cries — dead! dead!" ❋ Unknown (2011)

The magistrate observed me with a keen eye, and of course drew an unfavourable augury from my manner. ❋ Unknown (2010)

The boffo numbers for the Sunday night contest came on the heels of Thursday night's kickoff that attracted 27.2 million fans — all in all, an augury devoutly to be wished by NBC. ❋ Unknown (2011)

They seek to resolve the dispute by an augury, but this does not succeed. ❋ Russell Jacoby (2011)

At $4mmbtu the 'energy' equivalent per mmbtu is crude oil priced at $24/bbl an augury of the price of oil to come? ❋ Raymond J. Learsy (2011)

This proved an augury of better fortunes and a helping of luck when the game resumed following the break. ❋ Unknown (2012)

The power to take auspices was transferred from one magistrate to the next; that is, after an official was elected he had to perform a special augury to see if the gods approved his election. ❋ M_francis (2009)