augurio

Forms

augurio m (plural augurios)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin augurium (“augury, omen”), a learned word.^[2][1][3][4] The Latin noun is formed from augur (“augur”) with -ium.^[5][1] The OLD calls the origin of the base noun doubtful.^[5] Wiktionary reports de Vaan's derivation from a neuter noun Proto-Italic *augos (“strength”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwgos, related to augeō (“to increase”).^[1]

The inherited outcome of the same Latin word is agüero, from the second half of the 10th century, so the two are doublets.^[6][1][7] The popular forms go back to Vulgar Latin *agurium: Portuguese agouro, Galician agoiro, Catalan ahuir and French heur, and through French dialect forms agur and Basque agur “goodbye”.^{[8][4][9][10]}

The DHLE takes the sense “good wishes” from Italian augurio, which has had it since the 13th century.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Alfonso X's Picatrix of 1256, in a list of occult arts: & suertes. & augurios. & prophecia “and lots, and auguries, and prophecy”.^[12][13][14] Corominas's first record is about 1500.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In 1379–1384 Fernández de Heredia used it for the Roman priestly office of the augur, and Enrique de Villena for the sign the augurs read.^[12] Nebrija's Latin dictionary of 1492 glossed the Latin word with agüero.^[15] From Terreros to the Academy's 1869 edition the word was defined simply by agüero.^[16][17][18] The DLE now defines it as a presage, a sign of something to come.^[2] Moliner notes that it usually goes with bueno or malo.^[2][19] The first record in the Americas is from Venezuela in 1840.^[20]

The sense “good wishes for someone, on a date or occasion” appears in 1893 in a report written in Rome by the count of Coello, Spain's former ambassador to Italy.^[11] Ragucci first listed it among neologisms in 1961, and it is used mainly in Argentina, usually in the plural.^[11]

Timeline

• 1256 – Alfonso X's Picatrix lists augurios among the occult arts.^[12][13]
• 1379–1384 – Fernández de Heredia uses it for the office of augur.^[12]
• 1427–1428 – Enrique de Villena uses it in his glosses on the Aeneid.^[12]
• 1492 – Nebrija glosses Latin augurium as divination by omens.^[15]
• c. 1500 – Corominas's first record.^[3]
• 1840 – first record in the Americas, in Venezuela.^[20]
• 1893 – first record of the sense “good wishes”.^[11]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology from Latin augurium.^[21]

Meanings

Noun

1. An omen, presage or sign of something to come: Tomaron la lluvia como un buen augurio.^[2][19][1]
2. A prediction of a future event drawn from signs or from intuition.^[22]
3. (historical) In antiquity, divination from the flight or song of birds and other signs; the answer of the augurs.^[11]
4. (chiefly Argentina, usually in the plural) Good wishes for someone on a special occasion.^[11]

Related words

• agüero
• augur
• augurar
• agorero
• inaugurar
• Latin augurium
• Italian augurio

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. augurio
3. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. agüero
4. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. augurium
5. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 83
7. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 69
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 785
9. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 140
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. heur
11. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española (2013–), Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (DHLE), https://www.rae.es/dhle, p. s.v. augurio
12. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. augurio
13. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. augurio
14. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. augurio
15. ^ a b Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. augurio
16. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 1, 189
17. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 80
18. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 85
19. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. augurio
20. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. augurio
21. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 109
22. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. augurio