Definition of "augur"

augur

/ˈɔː.ɡə/

noun
plural augurs
1. A diviner who foretells events by the behaviour of birds or other animals, or by signs derived from celestial phenomena, or unusual occurrences.
  Quotations
  Augur of ill, whoſe tongue was never found / Without a prieſtly curſe, or boding ſound; [...]
  a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The First Book of Homer’s Ilias”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, page 420
2. (Ancient Rome) An official who interpreted omens before the start of public events.
  Quotations
  It was an ancient tradition, that when the Capitol was founded by one of the Roman kings, the god Terminus (who presided over boundaries, and was represented, according to the fashion of that age, by a large stone) alone, among all the inferior deities, refused to yield his place to Jupiter himself. A favorable inference was drawn from his obstinacy, which was interpreted by the augurs as a sure presage that the boundaries of the Roman power would never recede.
  1776, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol I, ch 1-pt ii
verb
third-person singular simple present augurs, present participle auguring, simple past and past participle augured
1. To foretell events; to exhibit signs of future events; to indicate a favorable or an unfavorable outcome.