auspicious
/ɔːˈspɪʃəs
/- It comes into my life at an auspicious moment, as I will be hitting the road on Sunday.
- As mum and dad took photographs or recorded the auspicious moment on the camcorder, the youngsters played happily and tentative new friendships were formed.
- Timing is terribly important in the book trade and the publishers might have chosen to hold it back until a more auspicious moment.
Synonyms
- I do think it is an auspicious sign that women can vote and run for office.
- An auspicious sign of record label interest might be when the company boss starts offering to carry your gear.
- The banana is an auspicious plant in India, a sign of prosperity and fertility, and occupies a prominent part in the traditional decorations in any function.
Derivatives
auspiciously
/ adverb ...- Last year was a much slower season and this one didn't start too auspiciously either.
- The day didn't start particularly auspiciously - the computer fell off my bike while I was loading it into the car, and I didn't notice.
- I have to say that our weekend in Toronto didn't begin too auspiciously.
auspiciousness
- Several kinds of flowers, fruits and leaves that symbolise auspiciousness and prosperity are stacked in fruit and vegetable markets along the roads.
- Each element corresponds to a cardinal direction: in order of auspiciousness they are south, east, west and north, while the centre is the earth.
- Because an astrology session brings together the triad of astrologer, client, and universe, one needs to communicate auspiciousness through the environment and the astrologer's behavior.
Origin
Late 16th century: from auspice + -ous.
In Roman times people tried to predict future events by watching the behaviour of animals and birds. An auspex was a person who observed the flight of birds for omens about what to do in important matters. A related word, auspicium, meant ‘taking omens from birds’. Like auspex, it came from avis ‘bird’ and specere ‘to look’, and is the source of auspice (mid 16th century). It was originally used to translate the Roman concept, but later came to mean ‘a premonition or forecast, especially of a happy future’. Auspicious accordingly meant ‘fortunate or favourable’. If the auspex's omens were favourable, he was seen as the protector of a particular enterprise, hence the expression under the auspices of, ‘with the help, support, or protection of’. An auspex was also known as an augur (again, avis ‘bird’ is the root of this word, together with garrire ‘to talk’). If something augurs (Late Middle English) well, it is a sign of a good outcome. See also aviation, inaugural