Omen

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈəʊmÉ™n/
• US IPA: /ˈoÊŠmÉ™n/
• Rhymes: -əʊmÉ™n

Origin

From Latin omen ("foreboding, omen").

Full definition of omen

Noun

1. Something which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding.
• 1856, Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Part III Chapter X, translated by Eleanor Marx-AvelingDay broke. He saw three black hens asleep in a tree. He shuddered, horrified at this omen. Then he promised the Holy Virgin three chasubles for the church, and that he would go barefooted from the cemetery at Bertaux to the chapel of Vassonville.
2. prophetic significancea sign of ill omen

Usage notes

Adjectives often applied to "omen": good, ill, bad, auspicious, evil, favorable, happy, lucky.

Synonyms

Related terms

• ominous

Verb

1. To be an omen of.
2. To divine or predict from omens.

Anagrams

• nome, Nome