omen

See also: Omen, òmen, and ōmen

English

Etymology

From Latin ōmen (“foreboding, omen”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈəʊmən/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈoʊmən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊmən

Noun

omen (plural omens)

1. Something which portends or is perceived to portend either a good or evil event or circumstance in the future, or which causes a foreboding; a portent or augury.

   The ghost's appearance was an ill omen.

   A rise in imports might be an omen of economic recovery.

   The egg has, during the span of history, represented mystery, magic, medicine, food and omen.

   • 1856, Gustave Flaubert, chapter 10, in Eleanor Marx-Aveling, transl., Madame Bovary, Part 3:

     Day broke. He saw three black hens asleep in a tree. He shuddered, horrified at this omen. Then he promised the Holy Virgin three chasubles for the church, and that he would go barefooted from the cemetery at Bertaux to the chapel of Vassonville.

2. A thing of prophetic significance.

   A sign of ill omen.

Synonyms

• augury, auspice, forecast, foreshadowing, foretoken, forewarning, harbinger, herald, hint, indication, oracle, portent, prediction, presage, prophecy, sign, signal, token, warning; danger sign, straw in the wind, (hand)writing on the wall; see also Thesaurus:omen

Derived terms

• absit omen
• bird of ill omen
• omenic

 

Related terms

• ominous
• abomination

Collocations

Collocations

• Adjectives often applied to "omen": good, ill, bad, auspicious, evil, favorable, happy, lucky.

Translations

something which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding

• Arabic: فَأل (ar), نَذِيْر (naḏiyr), طالِع (ṭāliʕ)
• Bulgarian: поличба (bg) f (poličba), знамение (bg) n (znamenie)
• Catalan: presagi (ca) m, averany (ca) m, auguri (ca) m, auspici (ca) m
• Cherokee: (bad omen) ᎤᏓᎴᎯ (udalehi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 預兆／预兆 (zh) (yùzhào)

• Czech: znamení (cs) n
• Dutch: voorteken (nl) n
• Esperanto: antaŭsigno, omeno
• Finnish: enne (fi)
• French: présage (fr) m
• Galician: agoiro (gl) m, sinal (gl) m
• German: Omen (de) n
• Greek: οιωνός (el) m (oionós), σημάδι (el) n (simádi)

  Ancient: οἰωνός m (oiōnós), κληδών f (klēdṓn)

• Ingrian: sanoma
• Irish: mana (ga) m, tuar (ga) m, droch-tuar m (unlucky), teir f (evil omen)
• Italian: presagio (it) m, segno (it) m, auspicio (it) m, augurio (it) m, premonizione (it) f, presentimento (it) m
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: omen n, praenuntia f
• Maori: takiari, tūpō (refers to bad omen), kōara (refers to bad omen), inati (usually heralds misfortune)
• Marathi: शकुन m (śakun)
• Middle Persian: [Book Pahlavi needed] (ytk /⁠ǰadag⁠/), [Book Pahlavi needed] (yhyšn' /⁠ǰahišn⁠/), [Book Pahlavi needed] (mwlwʾk' /⁠murwāg⁠/)
• Norman: avèrti m
• Norwegian: omen n
• Old English: wyrd
• Ottoman Turkish: اوغور (uğur) (a favorable one)
• Persian: مروا (fa) (morvâ), فال (fa) (fâl), مرغوا (fa) (morğvâ)
• Plautdietsch: Bediedunk f
• Portuguese: augúrio (pt) m, agouro (pt) m, presságio (pt) m, vaticínio (pt) m
• Russian: зна́мение (ru) (známenije), предзнаменова́ние (ru) n (predznamenovánije)
• Spanish: presagio (es) m
• Swedish: omen (sv) n, järtecken (sv)
• Tagalog: pangitain

prophetic significance

• Bulgarian: предсказание (bg) n (predskazanie)
• Esperanto: antaŭsigno
• Finnish: enne (fi)
• French: présage (fr) m
• German: Omen (de) n
• Greek: οιωνός (el) m (oionós)
• Italian: presagio (it) m, augurio (it) m, prenunzio m, indizio (it) m, premonizione (it) f, profezia (it) f
• Portuguese: presságio (pt) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Serbo-Croatian: znamenje (sh) n, predznak (sh) m, predskazanje (sh) n, kob (sh) m

Verb

omen (third-person singular simple present omens, present participle omening, simple past and past participle omened)

1. (transitive) To be an omen of.
2. (intransitive) To divine or predict from omens.

Synonyms

• prognosticate, betoken, forecast, foretell, portend, foreshadow, bode, augur, prefigure, predict, auspicate, presage

See also

• augury
• foreboding
• portend
• portent
• stars are aligned

Further reading

• “omen”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “omen”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Nemo, meno-, mone, Meno, nemo, Nome, Moen, nome, meon, Meon, Mone, Emon, NEMO

Basque

Etymology

Uncertain, perhaps from Latin ōmen (“omen”), but the semantic shift is problematic. If it's not a borrowing, from something akin to Proto-Basque *oben.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /omen/ [o.mẽn]
• Rhymes: -omen
• Hyphenation: o‧men

Noun

omen inan

1. fame, renown

Declension

Declension of omen (inanimate, ending in consonant)

	indefinite	singular	plural
absolutive	omen	omena	omenak
ergative	omenek	omenak	omenek
dative	omeni	omenari	omenei
genitive	omenen	omenaren	omenen
comitative	omenekin	omenarekin	omenekin
causative	omenengatik	omenarengatik	omenengatik
benefactive	omenentzat	omenarentzat	omenentzat
instrumental	omenez	omenaz	omenez
inessive	omenetan	omenean	omenetan
locative	omenetako	omeneko	omenetako
allative	omenetara	omenera	omenetara
terminative	omenetaraino	omeneraino	omenetaraino
directive	omenetarantz	omenerantz	omenetarantz
destinative	omenetarako	omenerako	omenetarako
ablative	omenetatik	omenetik	omenetatik
partitive	omenik	—	—
prolative	omentzat	—	—

Derived terms

• omenaldi (“homage”)
• omendu (“to pay homage”)
• omenez
• omenezko
• omengarri
• omentsu

 

Particle

omen

1. reportedly, apparently, I think

   Eguraldia hobetu omen da. ― It seems like the weather has improved.

Usage notes

In Basque, yes/no questions require a modal particle. The most common one is al, which introduces no additional meaning. For tentative questions, ote is used. The related particle omen indicates hearsay, but it's not used to form direct questions. All these particles are placed immediately before (auxiliary) verb forms.

Derived terms

• omenka

 

Further reading

• “omen”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy], Euskaltzaindia
• “omen”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

Latin

Etymology

From Old Latin osmen, of uncertain origin, with many origins proposed:

• Ancient authors derived it from ōs (“mouth”).
• Derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- (“to see, perceive”) (whence audiō) or from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- (“to perceive”), whence Ancient Greek οἴομαι (oíomai, “I think, believe, suppose”).
• Per Beneviste and Oettinger, connected to Hittite [script needed] (hā-ᶻᶦ, “to believe, trust”) via a supposed Proto-Indo-European *h₂e/oh₃-s-mn (“trust”). De Vaan considers this semantically unconvincing.
• Per De Vaan (who doubts the authenticity of the Old Latin form osmen), most likely from Proto-Italic *okʷsmn- (“sighting, omen”), from an s-present form of Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- (“to see; eye”) + *-men (whence -men).
• An alternative theory by Meier-Brügger derives the word from Proto-Indo-European *Hoǵ-smen (“speech, what was predicted”), from an o-grade of Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵ- (“to say”) (whence aiō (“id”)). This is semantically attractive, but requires the existence of the otherwise unattested-in-Latin o-grade of aiō, as well as an atypical formation of a smen-derivative from the Proto-Indo-European perfect *He-Hoǵ-.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈoː.men/, [ˈoːmɛn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈo.men/, [ˈɔːmen]

Noun

ōmen n (genitive ōminis); third declension

1. omen, sign, harbinger, portent, token (an object or occurrence believed to portend or predict a future event, circumstance, situation, or state of affairs)

   Synonym: ōrāculum

   • 45 BCE, Cicero, De divinatione 1.46.104:

     […] Quod omen res consecuta est; ipsa enim brevi mortua est, virgo autem nupsit, cui Caecilia nupta fuerat. Haec posse contemni vel etiam rideri praeclare intellego, sed id ipsum est deos non putare, quae ab iis significantur, contemnere.

     […] And this was a sign of what came to pass, for in a short time Caecilia died and the girl married her aunt's husband. I realize perfectly well that these omens may be lightly regarded and even be laughed at, but to make light of signs sent by the gods is nothing less than to disbelieve in the existence of the gods.

   • ~101 CE, Juvenal, Satires 4.123–125:

     non cedit Veiiento, sed ut fanaticus oestro / percussus, Bellona, tuo diuinat et "ingens / omen habes" inquit "magni clarique triumphi..."

     Veiientus yields not, but as one inspired by the maddening / influence of the goddess Bellona, prophesies. "A mighty / token this you possess" he says "of some great and illustrious triumph..."

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	ōmen	ōmina
genitive	ōminis	ōminum
dative	ōminī	ōminibus
accusative	ōmen	ōmina
ablative	ōmine	ōminibus
vocative	ōmen	ōmina

Derived terms

• ōminor
• ōminōsus
• nōmen est ōmen

Related terms

• praenūntiō

Descendants

• Dutch: omen
• English: omen
• German: Omen
• Norwegian:
  • Norwegian Bokmål: omen
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: omen

References

• “omen”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “omen”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• omen in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• omen in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to wish prosperity to an undertaking: aliquid optimis ominibus prosequi (vid. sect. VI. 11., note Prosequi...)
    
  • and may heaven avert the omen! heaven preserve us from this: quod di immortales omen avertant! (Phil. 44. 11)
    
  • to accept as a happy omen: omen accipere (opp. improbare)
    
  • to interpret something as an omen: accipere, vertere aliquid in omen
    
  • with favourable omens: faustis ominibus
    
  • an evil omen; presage of ill: omen infaustum, triste
    
• “omen”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin omen.

Noun

omen n (definite singular omenet, indefinite plural omen or omener or omina, definite plural omena or omenene or ominaene)

1. an omen

References

• “omen” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Latin omen.

Noun

omen n (definite singular omenet, indefinite plural omen, definite plural omena)

1. an omen

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

omen m

1. definite singular of om

References

• “omen” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Galician-Portuguese

Noun

omen m (plural omens)

1. Alternative form of ome

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ōmen. First attested in 1585, originally as a neuter noun.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔ.mɛn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔmɛn
• Syllabification: o‧men

Noun

omen m inan

1. (literary) omen, foreboding

   Synonyms: przepowiednia, wróżba, zapowiedź

   dobry omen ― good omen

   zły omen ― bad/ill omen

Declension

Declension of omen

	singular	plural
nominative	omen	omeny
genitive	omenu	omenów
dative	omenowi	omenom
accusative	omen	omeny
instrumental	omenem	omenami
locative	omenie	omenach
vocative	omenie	omeny

Related terms

phrases

• nomen omen

 

Further reading

• omen in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• omen in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Slovene

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ōmen. First attested in the 19th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /òːmɛn/, /óːmɛn/

Noun

ọ̄men m

1. (literary) omen, foreboding

Further reading

• “omen”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2024

Slovincian

Etymology

Borrowed from Polish amen. Compare Kashubian amen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔ.mɛn/
• Rhymes: -ɔmɛn
• Syllabification: o‧men

Noun

omen m inan (indeclinable)

1. (religion) amen

Further reading

• Lorentz, Friedrich (1908) “ǻu̯mĕn”, in Slovinzisches Wörterbuch‎^[2] (in German), volume 1, Saint Petersburg: ОРЯС ИАН, page 8

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin omen.

Noun

omen n

1. an omen

   dåliga omen

   bad omens

Declension

Declension of omen

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	omen	omens
	definite	omenet	omenets
plural	indefinite	omen	omens
	definite	omenen	omenens

See also

• järtecken

References

• omen in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• omen in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• omen in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)