Etymology

inaugurate

in·au·gu·rate
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Today it means: To induct (someone) into a dignity or office with a formal ceremony. Full definition →

French inaugurer ← Latin inaugurō
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inaugurate · verb1

  1. Latin · learned borrowing frominaugurātus
  2. Latin · derived frominaugurō“to take omens from the flight of birds, to divine, practise augury; to approve, consecrate, or inaugurate on the basis of omens; to install”
  3. French · borrowed frominaugurer“to inaugurate”
  4. English todayinaugurate

Either: * borrowed from French inaugurer (“to inaugurate”), from Latin inaugurō (“to take omens from the flight of birds, to divine, practise augury; to approve, consecrate, or inaugurate on the basis of omens; to install”) with common assimilation of French -er with English -ate (verb-forming suffix) * or a Learned borrowing from Latin inaugurātus, perfect passive participle of inaugurō, see etymology at -ate; Further from in- (“against; into; on, upon; to, towards”) + augurō (“to act as an augur, interpret omens, augur; to foretell, predict; to conjecture, guess”), from augur (“soothsayer, augur”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix) (further etymology uncertain; see the entry).

inaugurate · adjective2

  1. Latin · borrowed frominaugurātus“having been taken as an omen, divined; having been approved, consecrated, or inaugurated on the basis of omens; installed, having been installed”
  2. English todayinaugurate

Borrowed from Latin inaugurātus (“having been taken as an omen, divined; having been approved, consecrated, or inaugurated on the basis of omens; installed, having been installed”) (the perfect passive participle of inaugurō (verb): see etymology 1). See -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.