harbinger
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About Our Definitions: All forms of a word (noun, verb, etc.) are now displayed on one page.1har·bin·ger
noun \ˈhär-bən-jər\Definition of HARBINGER
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
See Examples of HARBINGER
- <her father's successful job interview was seen as a harbinger of better times to come>
Origin of HARBINGER
Middle English herbergere, from Anglo-French, host, from herberge camp, lodgings, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German heriberga
First Known Use: 14th century
Related to HARBINGER
See Synonym Discussion at forerunner
2harbinger
transitive verbDefinition of HARBINGER
: to be a harbinger of : presage
Examples of HARBINGER
- <the hope that the housing slump does not harbinger a general economic recession>
First Known Use of HARBINGER
1646
Related to HARBINGER
- Synonyms
- adumbrate, forerun, foreshadow, herald, prefigure
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All Words Near: harbinger
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