DictionaryAI

harbinger

HAR-bin-jur/ˈhɑɹbɪnd͡ʒəɹ/UKHAH-bin-juh/ˈhɑːbɪndʒə/

Pluralharbingers

Verbharbingers, harbingering, harbingered

3 meanings of harbinger

Practice

  1. 1
    early signnouncountable
    Someone or something whose appearance announces that another person or thing is on its way.

    The first robins on the lawn are a welcome harbinger of spring.

    Economists read the falling orders as harbingers of a recession.

    UsageUsually followed by of: a harbinger of spring, harbingers of a recession.

    Similarsign, herald, omen, signal, forewarning

    Note

    The word once named an officer sent ahead to arrange lodgings, from Old French herbergeor, from herbergier, "to shelter"; his arrival told a town who was coming, and the figurative sense grew from that. In Macbeth, trumpets are "clamorous harbingers of blood and death".

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The word derives from Old French herbergeor, from herbergier, meaning to shelter. en.wiktionary.org
    • Advance lodging-arrangers could announce an approaching visitor to a town. en.wikisource.org
    • Macbeth describes trumpets as clamorous harbingers of blood and death. shakespeare.mit.edu
  2. 2
    verbtransitive
    To announce or come before something; to be a sign that it is on its way.

    A sudden drop in air pressure harbingered the storm.

    The new rules may harbinger deeper changes across the industry.

    Similarherald

  3. 3
    lodging officernounobsolete
    A person who provides lodgings; especially, an officer of the English royal household who went ahead of the traveling court to provide and prepare lodgings.

    The king's harbinger reached the town a day early to secure rooms for the whole court.

    Innkeepers along the road dreaded the harbingers, who could claim their best rooms for the court.

    Note

    Here is the officer himself, a post in the English royal household that went ahead of the traveling court to take and prepare rooms. Thomas Fuller could still use him as a figure in a sermon: outward decency is "the Harbinger to provide the lodging for inward holinesse". Met in older history, the word should be read literally, not as a sign of what is coming.

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • An English royal household harbinger preceded the travelling court to provide and prepare lodgings. en.wiktionary.org
    • Thomas Fuller used the lodging-arranger figuratively in a sermon, with the quoted wording. en.wiktionary.org

Practice

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Origin

A harbinger was first someone sent ahead to arrange lodgings. Proto-West Germanic *harjabergu ("army camp, shelter") led to Old High German heribergan and then Old French herbergier ("to set up camp, to shelter"), which with the agent suffix -or became herbergeor. Middle English borrowed it as herbergeour. German Herberge, Italian albergo, and English harbor are related.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 9 facts