noun
- anything perceived or happening that is believed to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; portent.
- a prognostic.
- prophetic significance; presage: a bird of ill omen.
verb (used with object)
- to be an omen of; portend.
- to divine, as if from omens.
noun
- a phenomenon or occurrence regarded as a sign of future happiness or disaster
- prophetic significance
verb
- (tr) to portend
n.1580s, from Latin omen “foreboding,” from Old Latin osmen, of unknown origin; perhaps connected with the root of audire “to hear” [OED] or from PIE *o- “to believe, hold as true” (cf. Greek oiomai “I suppose, think, believe”).