Meanings
nounomen (plural omens)
plural omens
- 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.
4 more examples
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.
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.
1856, Gustave Flaubert, chapter 10, in Eleanor Marx-Aveling, transl., Madame Bovary, Part 3Necessarily she took it for an omen.
1924, Arnold Bennett, Riceyman Steps, page 222 - A thing of prophetic significance.
A sign of ill omen.
Synonyms & antonyms
hand
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Narrower
nouna sign of something about to happen
verbindicate, as with a sign or an omen
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Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinōmen“foreboding, omen”
- Englishomen
From Latin ōmen (“foreboding, omen”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek οἰωνός, κληδών
- οἰωνός (oiōnós)something which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- κληδών (klēdṓn)something which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
Arabic فَأل, نَذِير
- فَألsomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- نَذِير (naḏīr)something which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- طالِع (ṭāliʕ)something which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
Bulgarian поличба, знамение
- поличба (poličba)something which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- знамение (znamenie)something which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- предсказание (predskazanie)prophetic significance
Catalan presagi, averany
- presagisomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- averanysomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- augurisomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- auspicisomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
Chinese Mandarin 預兆 /预兆
- 預兆 /预兆 (yùzhào)something which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
Czech znamení
- znamenísomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
Dutch voorteken, omen
- voortekensomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- omensomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- voorbodesomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
Esperanto aŭguro, antaŭsigno
- aŭgurosomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- antaŭsignosomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- omenosomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- antaŭsignoprophetic significance
Finnish enne, enne
- ennesomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- enneprophetic significance
French présage, présage
- présagesomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- présageprophetic significance
German Omen, Omen
- Omensomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- Omenprophetic significance
Greek οιωνός, σημάδι
- οιωνός (oionós)something which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- σημάδι (simádi)something which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- προμήνυμα (promínyma)something which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- οιωνός (oionós)prophetic significance
Irish mana, tuar
- manasomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- tuarsomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- droch-tuarsomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- teirsomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
Italian presagio, segno
- presagiosomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- segnosomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- auspiciosomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- auguriosomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- premonizionesomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- presentimentosomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- presagioprophetic significance
- augurioprophetic significance
- prenunzioprophetic significance
- indizioprophetic significance
- premonizioneprophetic significance
- profeziaprophetic significance
Latin omen, praenuntia
- omensomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- praenuntiasomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
Māori takiari, tūpō
- takiarisomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- tūpōsomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- kōarasomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- inatisomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
Norwegian omen
- omensomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
Persian مروا, فال
- مروا (morvâ)something which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- فال (fâl)something which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- شگون (šogun)something which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
Portuguese augúrio, agouro
- augúriosomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- agourosomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- presságiosomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- vaticíniosomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- presságioprophetic significance
Russian зна́мение, предзнаменова́ние
- зна́мение (známenije)something which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- предзнаменова́ние (predznamenovánije)something which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
Spanish presagio
- presagiosomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
Swedish omen, järtecken
- omensomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
- järteckensomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
Tagalog pangitain
- pangitainsomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
Vietnamese điềm
- điềmsomething which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with omen
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
omen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/omen
MLA
“omen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/omen. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “omen,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/omen.
Source: omen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.