augury

augury
    n 1: an event that is experienced as indicating important things
         to come; "he hoped it was an augury"; "it was a sign from
         God" [syn: {augury}, {sign}, {foretoken}, {preindication}]
    

Augury \Au"gu*ry\, n.; pl. {Auguries}. [L. aucurium.]
   1. The art or practice of foretelling events by observing the
      actions of birds, etc.; divination.
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   2. An omen; prediction; prognostication; indication of the
      future; presage.
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            From their flight strange auguries she drew.
                                                  --Drayton.
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            He resigned himself . . . with a docility that gave
            little augury of his future greatness. --Prescott.
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   3. A rite, ceremony, or observation of an augur.
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49 Moby Thesaurus words for "augury":
      adumbration, anticipation, astrology, auspice, betokening,
      betokenment, boding, clairvoyance, crystal ball, crystal gazing,
      divination, divining, foreshadow, foreshadowing, foreshowing,
      foretoken, foretokening, fortunetelling, haruspication, haruspicy,
      horoscopy, indicant, indication, mantic, mantology, omen,
      palm-reading, palmistry, portent, prefiguration, preindication,
      premonition, premonitory shiver, premonitory sign,
      premonitory symptom, presage, presentiment, presignifying,
      prognostic, prognostication, promise, pythonism, shadow, sign,
      soothsay, sorcery, token, tokening, type