Auspicate

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Auspicate \Aus"pi*cate\, v. t.
     1. To foreshow; to foretoken. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To give a favorable turn to in commencing; to inaugurate;
        -- a sense derived from the Roman practice of taking the


        auspicium, or inspection of birds, before undertaking any
        important business.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              They auspicate all their proceedings. --Burke.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Auspicate \Aus"pi*cate\, a. [L. auspicatus, p. p. of auspicari
     to take auspices, fr. auspex a bird seer, an augur, a contr.
     of avispex; avis bird + specere, spicere, to view. See
     {Aviary}, {Spy}.]
     Auspicious. [Obs.] --Holland.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  auspicate
       v 1: indicate by signs; "These signs bode bad news" [syn: {bode},
             {portend}, {prognosticate}, {omen}, {presage}, {betoken},
             {foreshadow}, {augur}, {foretell}, {prefigure}, {forecast},
             {predict}]
       2: commence in a manner calculated to bring good luck; "They
          auspicated the trip with a bottle of champagne"