harbinger

(här'bĭn-jər)
n.
One that indicates or foreshadows what is to come; a forerunner.

tr.v., -gered, -ger·ing, -gers.
To signal the approach of; presage.

[Middle English herbengar, person sent ahead to arrange lodgings, from Old French herbergeor, from herbergier, to provide lodging for, from herberge, lodging, of Germanic origin.]

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Bob Herbert of The New York Times refers to James Brown and Gerald Ford, both recently deceased, as harbingers, or forerunners, of major national shifts in the United States:

"Both were unlikely harbingers of the new. Mr. Brown, with his gleaming (and anachronistic) pompadour, became the very embodiment of black pride, a troubadour exhorting his followers to 'Say it Loud — I'm Black and I'm Proud'...
"Mr. Ford was more than just the designated healer after Watergate. The U.S. was also in the final throes of the long national nightmare of Vietnam. And it was stuck in a protracted energy crisis. The nation was looking for a way forward."

Link: Lessons Never Learned - New York Times

Posted December 29, 2006.

See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.

noun

One that indicates or announces someone or something to come: forerunner, foreshadower, herald, precursor, presager. See foresight, show/hide.

See words rhyming with "harbinger."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Harbinger.

Dansk (Danish)
n. - varsel, forløber
v. tr. - bebuder

Nederlands (Dutch)
voorspellen, aankondigen, zinspelen op, voorbode, voorloper, kwartiermaker

Français (French)
n. - signe avant-coureur, signe annonciateur, porteur de mauvaises nouvelles (une personne)
v. tr. - annoncer une mauvaise nouvelle

Deutsch (German)
n. - Bote, Vorbote
v. - ankündigen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - προάγγελος, πρόδρομος

Italiano (Italian)
messaggero

Português (Portuguese)
n. - precursor (m)

Русский (Russian)
предвестник, предвещать, объявлять о приближении

Español (Spanish)
n. - presagio, precursor
v. tr. - presagiar

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - förebud, budbärare

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
先驱, 预兆, 充当通报者, 预告, 预示, 作先驱

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 先驅, 預兆
v. tr. - 充當通報者, 預告, 預示, 作先驅

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 선구자, 조짐, 선발자
v. tr. - 미리 알리다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 前触れ, 先触れ, 前兆, 先駆者

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) الرائد, النذير, البشير‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מודיע, מבשר‬
v. tr. - ‮בישר על בוא‬

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