harbinger

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (3)  · 

View all »
Definitions (9)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun One that indicates or foreshadows what is to come; a forerunner.
  2. transitive verb To signal the approach of; presage.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (3)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples

  • An occurrence calls for mention here, not only as a kind of harbinger of the “storm,” but as one of the chief incidents which in the course of recent years have troubled Anglo-German relations. —  William of Germany
  • Every forest sound must have struck his ear, as a harbinger of the approaching Indians. —  The First White Man of the West
  • There was the token of his first artistic success appearing to him out of the gloom as the harbinger of another success which he hoped would also soon emerge from behind the lowering clouds. —  Letters and Journals 02]
  • Jungir Khan ruled Zamboula, and men whispered that Nafertari, the satrap's mistress, ruled Jungir Khan; but the people went their way, flaunting their myriad colors in the streets, bargaining, disputing, gambling, swilling, loving, as the people of Zamboula have done for all the centuries its towers and minarets have lifted over the sands of the Kharamun. —  Conan the Wanderer
  • His gray suit was mediocre as always. —  Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

Harbinger has been looked up 724 times, favorited twice, listed 113 times, and commented on 3 times.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Add a related word »
Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

harley ·  presentiment ·  forerunner ·  portent ·  embodiment ·  omen ·  bringer ·  imminence ·  brink ·  cusp
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English herbengar, person sent ahead to arrange lodgings, from Old French herbergeor, from herbergier, to provide lodging for, from herberge, lodging, of Germanic origin; see koro- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Early modern English also harbenger (the n inserted as in passenger, messenger, porringer, etc.), earlier harbegier, harbesher (in which an orig. r has been lost from the second syllable), from (a) Middle English herbergeour, herberjour, herbarjour, etc., from Old French herbergeor, herbergeour, albergeur (= Spanish Portuguese albergador = Italian albergatore), one who provides or secures lodging or harborage; (b) Middle English also herberger, herborgere, from Old French herbegier, in same sense; from herbergier, harbor, lodge: see harborough, harbor, v.
  2. from harbinger, n.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/ˈhɑrbɪndʒər/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about once a month.

Recent Lookups

muckraker · menggabungkan · humeral · mid-level · video

Recent Favorites

Espoo · stick-to-it-iveness · supine · doxastic · bissextile day

Recent Pronunciations

milosrdenstvi · lichen-covered · futon · sagacity · monoragngocious