augurio

Augurio is a noun used in several Romance languages, most notably Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, meaning an omen or sign believed to foretell future events. As a general term, an augurio refers to any perceptible cue that is interpreted as predicting what will happen, whether favorable or unfavorable. In everyday language, augurios can arise from natural phenomena, coincidences, or human actions that people take as signs.

The term derives from Latin augurium, connected with the Roman rite of augury, in which priests (augurs) interpreted omens to guide public decision making. In Italian, the cognate augurio retains the omen sense, while the plural auguri is a common expression for "best wishes" in greetings, though unrelated in meaning to omen.

In Spanish and Portuguese, augurio remains the standard word for an omen; phrases such as "un augurio de buena suerte" appear in literary or formal contexts.

Historically, augury was a formal practice in ancient Rome, with augurs observing birds, lightning, or other signs to determine whether to undertake military campaigns or political acts. In literature and folklore, auguries serve as foreshadowing devices, signaling the course of events to come.