herald
noun
[ ˈhɛr(ə)ld ]
• an official employed to oversee state ceremonial, precedence, and the use of armorial bearings, and (historically) to make proclamations, carry official messages, and oversee tournaments.
• a person or thing viewed as a sign that something is about to happen.
• "they considered the first primroses as the herald of spring"
Similar:
harbinger,
sign,
indicator,
indication,
signal,
prelude,
portent,
omen,
augury,
forewarning,
presage,
announcer,
forerunner,
precursor,
messenger,
usher,
avant-courier,
foretoken,
• a brown moth with dull orange markings, often hibernating in houses and old buildings.
herald
verb
• be a sign that (something) is about to happen.
• "the speech heralded a change in policy"
Similar:
signal,
indicate,
announce,
point to,
spell,
presage,
augur,
portend,
promise,
prefigure,
foreshadow,
foretell,
usher in,
show in,
pave the way for,
open the way for,
be a harbinger of,
be a forerunner,
be a precursor of,
precede,
come before,
forebode,
foretoken,
betoken,
harbinger,
Origin:
Middle English: from Old French herault (noun), herauder (verb), of Germanic origin.
