Augury
The augur designates both, in ancient Rome, the priest charged with interpreting signs sent by the gods, and the sign itself, generally drawn from the flight or song of birds. By extension, the word today refers to any omen or favorable or unfavorable forecast.
Origin and etymology
The word comes from the Latin augur, whose etymology remains debated: perhaps avis (bird) combined with garrire (to call), or from the root aug- (to increase, to make grow). The college of Roman augurs, or collegium augurum, was one of the oldest priestly institutions of Rome, traditionally founded by Romulus and expanded by Numa Pompilius in the 8th century BCE. The augurs were in charge of auspicium, the observation of the flight of birds, but also of lightning and unusual phenomena. No major political or military decision was made without prior consultation of their college. The function declined in the 4th century CE with the Christianization of the Empire.
Evolution and tradition
The divinatory tradition by birds extends beyond Rome: it is attested among the Etruscans, the Greeks (oionoskopia) and in many Indo-European traditions. The Roman rite consisted of tracing a templum in the sky with the lituus (curved staff), and then observing the flight of birds within that frame. The aves alites were interpreted by their flight, the aves oscines by their song. From the Middle Ages onward, the word augure kept its divinatory meaning but came to designate any kind of forecast. In the 18th century, the expression of good augur or of bad augur entered everyday French.
Practical use
In contemporary oracular practices, augur is often used as a general synonym for omen or sign. The divinatory practice of bird observation, or ornithomancy, is rarely practiced systematically today. On Tarotoui, the term appears in entries introducing the various forms of divination, as an umbrella category. The word remains useful for talking about events read as signs: a chance meeting, an animal crossing the road, a bird striking the window. Many modern traditions still pay symbolic attention to these apparitions.
Going further
The Roman augur was not a fortune-teller in the modern predictive sense: he interpreted the divine will on a specific decision (action favorable or not), not the future in general. The confusion between augury and prophecy is later. Note also that in standard French usage, augure is masculine, even though the feminine usage occasionally exists.