auspicate
verb, adjective
Forms auspicates auspicating auspicated
- verb (transitive) To foreshow; to foretoken.
- verb (transitive) To give a favorable turn to in commencing; to inaugurate; -- a sense derived from the Roman practice of taking the auspicium, or inspection of birds, before undertaking any important business.
- adjective Auspicious.
Synonyms
bode portend prognosticate omen presage betoken foreshadow augur foretell prefigure forecast predict
Etymology
From Latin auspicatus, past participle of auspicari "to take auspices", from auspex "bird seer", "augur", a contraction of avispex; avis "bird" + specere, spicere, "to view".
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Auspicious. [Obs.] Holland.
- verb To foreshow; to foretoken. [Obs.] B. Jonson.
- verb To give a favorable turn to in commencing; to inaugurate; --a sense derived from the Roman practice of taking the auspicium, or inspection of birds, before undertaking any important business.
Etymology [L. auspicatus, p. p. of auspicari to take auspices, fr. auspex a bird seer, an augur, a contr. of avispex; avis bird + specere, spicere, to view. See Aviary, Spy.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “auspicate”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details