Etymology and origin of the French word auspice
auspice1 augur
Etymology tree of auspice1
From the same root · auspice1
Pronunciation
- /os.pis/[1]
Forms
auspice m (plural auspices)[1]
Etymology
The word for the Roman augur is borrowed from Latin auspex (“augur, diviner from birds”), recorded in 1697.[2][3][4] The Latin noun was formed from avis (“bird”) and speciō (“to look at, examine”).[3] Rey notes that an earlier rare homonym taken from the same Latin word meant the witness at a wedding in 1570.[3]
Semantic evolution
Rey calls the use for a Roman priest exceptional and lost, but the TLFi still records it as rare, with an example from Alain (1922) that sets des auspices et des aruspices side by side.[3][5]
Timeline
- 1570 – An earlier homonym from auspex names the witness at a wedding.[3]
- 1697 – Auspice is recorded for a priest of antiquity.[2][3]
Meanings
Noun
auspice2 omen
Etymology tree of auspice2
From the same root · auspice2
Pronunciation
- /os.pis/[1]
Forms
auspice m (plural auspices)[1]
Etymology
The word for the omen is borrowed from Latin auspicium (“divination from birds, omen”), first used about 1355 by Bersuire.[2][3][6][7] The Latin noun was derived from auspex (“augur”) and could already be used figuratively.[3][6] In Middle French it also had an altered form euspices (1366).[3][2]
Earliest recorded meaning
In Bersuire's translation (about 1354–1359) it is a term of Roman religion, the sign drawn from watching birds: the augur names “quelz signes et quelz auspices il voloit estre demonstrez” (“what signs and what auspices he wished to be shown”).[8] Bersuire also explains it as aür ou fortune ou felicité ou bon commencement, “luck or fortune or happiness or good beginning”.[9]
Semantic evolution
Used at first as a term of Roman antiquity, the word widened in the middle of the 17th century to circumstances that allow a good or bad forecast.[3] From there came sous les auspices de, “under the protection of”, said first in ancient settings and then of modern ones.[3][5] The word is now used mostly in the plural.[1][10]
Timeline
- c. 1355 – Bersuire borrows auspice for the Roman sign from birds.[3][8]
- 1366 – The altered Middle French form euspices is recorded.[3][2]
- mid-17th century – It comes to mean the circumstances that bode well or ill.[3]
Meanings
Noun
- (Roman antiquity) A sign, chiefly from the flight of birds, that magistrates and priests read to foretell the future: prendre les auspices.[5][9][10]
- An omen, a circumstance that bodes good or ill: sous d'heureux auspices, sous de funestes auspices.[5][10][9]
- Sous les auspices de: under the protection or patronage of a person or body.[5][10][9]
Related words
Usage notes
The TLFi notes that the two uses are distinct in origin, but that French speakers may feel them as linked, the augur standing for the omens he reads.[5]
References
- ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25, 1062b
- ^ a b c d e f g Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
- ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25, 1063b
- ^ a b Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
- ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Auspice.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/auspice. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.
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