augur Latin · revision 703

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈau̯.ɡʊr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaːu̯.ɡur]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''augur''' ''m'' or f (genitive auguris); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ De Vaan derives it from an s-stem noun [[itc-pro|*augos|t=reinforcement, confirmation]], from [[ine-pro|*h₂éwgos|t=strength]], the noun of [[augeo|alt=augēre]] “to increase”, with ''r'' taken from the oblique cases.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The abstract noun would then have become concrete, “one who makes grow”, and Etymonline glosses the original idea as an increase in crops brought about by ritual.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Etymonline) Priscian's older form [[m|la|auger]] may keep the ablaut of the oblique cases, and the old plural survives in Accius' [[m|la|augura]] “auguries”.^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan dismisses the analysis as *au-gus- “bird-taster”, from [[avis]] “bird” and [[gustus|alt=gustāre]] “to taste”, as unmotivated, though this popular view is given by Lewis and Short and Etymonline.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Etymonline) The OLD calls the origin doubtful.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Cognate with [[sa|ओजस्|tr=ójas|t=strength]] and [[ae|aogah-|t=might]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is attested from Cato onwards,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who forbids a farm manager to consult a soothsayer, an [[m|en|augur]], a diviner or an astrologer.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a person who observes and interprets the behaviour of birds, and especially a member of the Roman college of augurs, the official interpreters of the auspices, whom Cicero calls “interpreters of Jupiter Best and Greatest”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis and Short note that the augurs read lightning, the flight and calls of birds, the feeding of the sacred chickens and other signs.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Towns and colonies also had their own augurs.^(TLL)

+

+ In poetry it meant any seer or prophet, as ''augur Apollo'' in Virgil and Horace, and by extension anything that foretells, as when Statius calls fear the worst of augurs.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Medieval writers used it for a soothsayer whom bishops were to restrain.^(MLW) English borrowed it in the 1540s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it for a soothsayer.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 170–c. 90 BC – Accius writes “I put no trust in augurs”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero calls the augurs interpreters of Jupiter.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil calls Apollo ''augur''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1540s – English borrows it as [[en|augur]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|augur]], an interpreter of the behaviour of birds; a member of the college of augurs.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A seer, [[m|en|prophet]]; anything that foretells.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[augurale]]

+ * [[augurālis]]

+ * [[augurius]]

+ * [[augurium]]

+ * [[augurō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[augeō]]

+ * [[augustus]]

+ * [[en|augur]]

+ * [[en|inaugurate]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ It is usually masculine, but poets use it as a feminine.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}