词汇 | auspicious augur augury |
词源 | auspicious, augur, augury. The Roman auspex was a man appointed to foretell the future by observing the flight of birds, listening to their songs, observing the food they ate, or exam- ining their entrails. The name comes from the Latin avis, “bird,” and specere, “to look at.” No important enterprise was begun without the auspex’s consulting the birds to see if omens were favorable; favorable omens came to be called auspicious ones. In later Roman times the augur replaced the auspex as the observer and interpreter of bird signs, his name deriving from the Latin avis, “bird,” and garrire, “to talk or tell.” His in- terpretation was called an augurism, which became the En- glish word augury, an omen, while the Latin inaugurare, “to install an official after consulting the birds,” became our word inaugurate. |
随便看 |
|
英语词源词典收录了13259条英语词源词条,基本涵盖了全部常用英语词汇的起源、历史,是研究英语词汇或通过词源学英语的必备工具。