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Etymology and origin of the Latin word omen

Confidence
Uncertain
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈoː.mɛn][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈɔː.men][1]

Forms

ōmen n (genitive ōminis); third declension[1] Varro gives the old form osmen.[2][3]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[3][4][5][6] Varro gives an older form ⟨osmen⟩ and derives it from ōs (“mouth”), as what is first uttered by the mouth; de Vaan doubts that ⟨osmen⟩ ever existed.[2][3][1] Benveniste compared Hittite hā- (“to believe, trust”), which the TLL accepts but de Vaan does not find convincing in meaning; he prefers ⟨*h₃ekʷ-s-mn⟩ “a sighting”, from the root of Ancient Greek ὄμμα (ómma, “eye”), and also reports Meier-Brügger's ⟨*h₁oǵ-smen⟩ “what was said”, from the root of aiō (“to say”).[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,[3][5] who has nostrō ōmine it diēs; iam victī vīcimus, “the day goes as our omen said; beaten, we have won”.[4]

Semantic evolution

Ōmen is a sign that foretells an event or its outcome, an omen, augury.[4][2][1] It is especially a chance word or utterance taken as a good or bad sign for the future, as in greetings and good wishes.[4]

Döderlein contrasts augurium and auspicium, signs read by experts, with ōmina, signs that anyone can interpret for himself.[8] English omen (1580s) comes from it.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: nostrō ōmine it diēs.[4][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro derives it from ōs.[2][5]
  • 1580s – English omen.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An omen, sign, portent, augury.[4][2][1]
  2. A word or utterance taken as an omen; a good wish.[4]

Word family

  • ominalis
  • ōminōsus
  • ōminātus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
Cite this entry

“Omen.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/omen. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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