Adjacent Words

Harbinger definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

H`ARBINGER, n. [See Harbor. Harbinger is properly a person who goes to provide harbor or lodgings for those that follow.]
1. In England, an officer of the king's household who rides a day's journey before the court when traveling, to provide lodgings and other accommodations.
2. A forerunner; a precursor; that which precedes and gives notice of the expected arrival of something else.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: something that precedes and indicates the approach of something or someone [syn: harbinger, forerunner, predecessor, herald, precursor] v
1: foreshadow or presage [syn: announce, annunciate, harbinger, foretell, herald]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English herbergere, from Anglo-French, host, from herberge camp, lodgings, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German heriberga Date: 14th century 1. archaic a person sent ahead to provide lodgings 2. a. one that pioneers in or initiates a major change ; precursor b. one that presages or foreshadows what is to come Synonyms: see forerunner II. transitive verb Date: 1646 to be a harbinger of ; presage

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a person or thing that announces or signals the approach of another. 2 a forerunner. Etymology: earlier = 'one who provides lodging': ME herbergere f. OF f. herberge lodging f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Harbinger Har"bin*ger, n. [OE. herbergeour, OF. herbergeor one who provides lodging, fr. herbergier to provide lodging, F. h['e]berger, OF. herberge lodging, inn, F. auberge; of German origin. See Harbor.] 1. One who provides lodgings; especially, the officer of the English royal household who formerly preceded the court when traveling, to provide and prepare lodgings. --Fuller. 2. A forerunner; a precursor; a messenger. I knew by these harbingers who were coming. --Landor.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Harbinger Har"bin*ger, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Harbingered; p. pr. & vb. n. Harbingering.] To usher in; to be a harbinger of. ``Thus did the star of religious freedom harbinger the day.'' --Bancroft.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(harbingers) Something that is a harbinger of something else, especially something bad, is a sign that it is going to happen. (LITERARY) The November air stung my cheeks, a harbinger of winter. N-COUNT: usu N of n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Forerunner, precursor, herald.

Moby Thesaurus

Gabriel, ancestor, announce, announcer, antecedent, augury, avant-garde, bellwether, buccinator, buccinator novi temporis, bushwhacker, evangel, evangelist, explorer, forebear, foregoer, forerun, forerunner, foreshadower, foreshow, foretoken, front runner, frontiersman, fugleman, give notice, groundbreaker, guide, herald, herald angel, innovator, lead runner, leader, messenger, notify, omen, outrider, pathfinder, pioneer, point, portent, preannounce, precedent, precursor, predecessor, preindicate, premonitor, presage, presager, proclaim, run before, scout, sign, stormy petrel, trailblazer, trailbreaker, vanguard, vaunt-courier, voortrekker