Definition of 'omen'
English
Noun
(
en-noun)
(
wikipedia)
Something which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding.
- the ghost's appearance was an ill omen
- a rise in imports might be an omen of recovery
- the egg has, during the span of history, represented mystery, magic, medicine, food and omen
* 1856 , (Gustave Flaubert), (Madame Bovary), Part III Chapter X, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling
- Day broke. He saw three black hens asleep in a tree. He shuddered, horrified at this omen . Then he promised the Holy Virgin three chasubles for the church, and that he would go barefooted from the cemetery at Bertaux to the chapel of Vassonville.
prophetic significance
- a sign of ill omen
Usage notes
* Adjectives often applied to "omen": good, ill, bad, auspicious, evil, favorable, happy, lucky.
Synonyms
* portent, sign, signal, token, forewarning, warning, danger sign, foreshadowing, prediction, forecast, prophecy, harbinger, augury, auspice, presage, straw in the wind, (hand)writing on the wall, indication, hint, foretoken; see also
Related terms
* ominous
Verb
To be an omen of.
To divine or predict from omens.
Synonyms
* prognosticate, betoken, forecast, foretell, portend, foreshadow, bode, augur, prefigure, predict, auspicate, presage
See also
* augury
* foreboding
* portend
* portent
External links
*
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Anagrams
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