harbinger

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈhɑɹ.bɪn.d͡ʒəɹ/; /ˈhɑːbɪndʒə/ (UK)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English herbengar,^[2][3][4] an alteration of herbergere “provider of lodging”,^[3][5][4] borrowed from Old French herbergeor,^[2][3] from herbergier “to lodge”, from herberge “lodging”, of Germanic origin.^[2][3][5][4] It is related to harbor.^[3][4] The -n- is unetymological.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first meant one who provides lodging, a host or innkeeper.^[6][3]

Semantic evolution

It came to mean one sent ahead to arrange lodgings for an army or a royal court,^[6][3][4] and from this, by the mid-16th century, a forerunner announcing someone’s approach,^[3][6] and anything that foreshadows what is coming.^[2][4]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – a host or lodging-keeper.^[6]
• c. 1386 – one sent ahead to secure lodgings.^[6]
• a1550 – a forerunner.^[6][3]
• 1646 – verb, to announce or presage;^[6][5] Etymonline says the 1640s.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Someone or something that foreshadows what is to come; a forerunner.
2. (historical) An officer sent ahead to arrange lodgings.

Verb

1. To signal the approach of; to presage.

Word family

• harbinger-of-spring

Related words

• harbor
• herald

References

1. [1] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. [1] [2] [3] [4] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
5. [1] [2] [3] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press