omen +(Latin: foreboding; augury; anything perceived or happening that is believed to portend or to indicate that something is going to happen which may be a good or an evil event or circumstance in the future)abominable
1. Loathsome, extremely repugnant, or offensive> 2. Extremely unpleasant or of very bad quality, or very unpleasant to experience. 3. A bad omen; nasty and disgusting; vile; loathsome. Word HistoryBetween the 14th and the 17th centuries, abominable was often spelled abhominable, because of a widely held belief that it was derived from Latin ab hominem; literally, "away from humankind", therefore "unnatural, beastly". Shakespeare puns on this sense when Hamlet speaks of incompetent actors who "imitate humanity abominably." abominate
1. To dislike, to find repugnant, and to intensely disapprove of someone or something. 2. To detest thoroughly; to abhor. Origins and developmentFor the ancient Romans, an omen was a sign from the gods or a promise of good or a warning of evil. Naturally, they turned away in fear from an evil omen. To express this aversion, they combined ab, "away" plus omen, "a foreboding", into the verb abominari, meaning "to deprecate as ominous", "to abhor"; with a past participle abominatus, the source of English abominate. The word has largely lost its original connotation of dread and has come to mean "to loathe", "to despise". abominator
1. Someone who intensely hates or loathes.
2. Anyone who thoroughly detests or abhors. ill-omened
1. A bad or an evil omen.
2. Having unlucky omens; inauspicious. 3. Marked by or promising bad fortune. omen (s), omens (pl)
1. Anything perceived or happening that is believed to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; a portent.
2. A prognostic or foreboding. 3. A prophetic significance; presage: "He saw a bird of ill omen or an unfavorable sign of what was about to happen." omened
To be a prophetic sign of; portended.
ominous
1. Portending evil or harm; foreboding; threatening; inauspicious: "She saw an ominous bank of dark clouds."
2. Having the significance of an omen. ominously
In an ominous manner.
ominousness
1. Presaging ill-fortune: "A dead and ominous silence prevailed."
2. Threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments. Cross references of word families that are related directly, or indirectly, to: "divination, diviner; seer, soothsayer, prophecy, prophesy, prophet": augur-; auspic-; fa-, fate; Fates in action; futur-; -mancy; -phemia; sorc-, sorcery; vati-. If there are any numbers below, use them to see other pages in this unit.Back to Index | Search Box | Main Index The Main-Word Info pageThe + sign at the end of a unit title means all of the words in that unit have definitions.Directory of special content and topicsDo you want to help to make this dictionary bigger and better?
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