Etymograph

English

augur

Augur comes from Latin augur, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwgos ‘to increase, to enlarge’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éwgos1‘to increase, to enlarge’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*augos ~ *augezos1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaugur2
  4. Englishearliest quotation a. 1701augur2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin augur
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English augur
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1701, John Dryden, The First Book of Homer’s Ilias: “Augur of ill, whoſe tongue was never found /…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éwgosWiktionary, Latin augur‘to increase, to enlarge’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*augos ~ *augezosWiktionary, Latin augurreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaugurWiktionary, English augur
  4. Englishearliest quotation a. 1701augurWiktionary, English augur. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1701, John Dryden, The First Book of Homer’s Ilias: “Augur of ill, whoſe tongue was never found /…”

The story

Borrowed from Latin augur, of uncertain origin; akin to augurō (‘interpret omens’).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwgos ‘to increase, to enlarge’

august, 5 more

through Latin augur

inaugural, inaugurate, 5 more

Today it means

noun A diviner who foretells events by the behaviour of birds or other animals, or by signs derived from celestial phenomena, or unusual occurrences.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “augur”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin augur. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwgos / augur

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