Ever need a fact or quotation relating to omens and superstitions? Designed for speechwriters, journalists, writers, researchers, students, professors, teachers, historians, academics, scrapbookers, trivia buffs and word lovers, this book represents the largest compilation of anything relating to “omens and superstitions,” with a linguistic emphasis on non-conventional usage and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities. The entries cover all parts of speech (noun, verb, adverb or adjective usage) as well as use in modern slang, pop culture, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This “data dump” results in many unexpected examples for omens and superstitions, since the editorial decision to include or exclude terms is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under “fair use” conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. Proceeds from this book are used to expand the content and coverage of Webster’s Online Dictionary (www.websters-online-dictionary.org).

Familiar Quotations

Omens

A woman's time of opportunity is short, and if she doesn't seize it, no one wants to marry her, and she sits watching for omens.–Aristophanes

Omens – "Augury"

The single best augury is to fight for one's country.–Homer

Omens – "Forerunner"

Thought is, perhaps, the forerunner and even the mother of ideas, and ideas are the most powerful and the most useful things in the world.–George Gardner

Omens – "Herald"

History, the evidence of time, the light of truth, the life of memory, the directress of life, the herald of antiquity, committed to immortality.–Cicero

Farewell, Morning Star, herald of dawn, and quickly come as the Evening Star, bringing again in secret her whom thou takest away.–Meleager

Omens – "Indication"

Adventures are an indication of inefficiency. Good explorers don't have them.–Herbert Spencer Dickey

Omens – "Portents"

The historian's job is to aggrandize, promoting accident to inevitability and innocuous circumstance to portent.–Peter Conrad

Omens – "Presage"

The advancement of the arts from year to year taxes our credulity, and seems to presage the arrival of that period when human improvement must end.–Henry L. Ellsworth

Omens – "Sign"

There is no greater sign of a general decay of virtue in a nation, than a want of zeal in its inhabitants for the good of their country.–Joseph Addison

The surest sign of age is loneliness.–Bronson Alcott

• Preface x
• Familiar Quotations 1
• Omens 1
• Omens – "Augury" 1
• Omens – "Forerunner" 1
• Omens – "Herald" 1
• Omens – "Indication" 1
• Omens – "Portents" 1
• Omens – "Presage" 1
• Omens – "Sign" 1
• Superstitions 2
• Use in Literature 5
• Omens 5
• Omens – "Ancient" 15
• Omens – "Bad" 15
• Omens – "Believes" 17
• Omens – "Bird" 20
• Omens – "Black" 20
• Omens – "Bode" 21
• Omens – "Called" 21
• Omens – "Come" 21
• Omens – "Days" 23
• Omens – "Death" 24
• Omens – "Dreams" 24
• Omens – "Drew" 27
• Omens – "Early" 28
• Omens – "Event" 28
• Omens – "Evil" 29
• Omens – "Fortune" 31
• Omens – "Found" 32
• Omens – "Great" 32
• Omens – "Hands" 33
• Omens – "Harbinger" 34
• Omens – "Hear" 34
• Omens – "Heart" 35
• Omens – "Indication" 35
• Omens – "Lives" 36
• Omens – "Man" 36
• Omens – "Means" 38
• Omens – "Minds" 38
• Omens – "Morning" 38
• Omens – "Name" 39
• Omens – "Nature" 39
• Omens – "Old" 40
• Omens – "People" 41
• Omens – "Persons" 41
• Omens – "Place" 42
• Omens – "Plays" 42
• Omens – "Pleasure" 42
• Omens – "Portents" 43
• Omens – "Presage" 43
• Omens – "Reads" 44
• Omens – "Shall" 44
• Omens – "Sign" 45
• Omens – "Signs" 45
• Omens – "Sky" 45
• Omens – "Thinking" 46
• Omens – "Thus" 47
• Omens – "Times" 48
• Omens – "Woman" 48
• Omens – "Word" 49
• Omens – "World" 49
• Omens – "Young" 50
• Superstitions 51
• Superstitions – "Ages" 73
• Superstitions – "Appeared" 75
• Superstitions – "Awe" 77
• Superstitions – "Being" 77
• Superstitions – "Believing" 79
• Superstitions – "Best" 81
• Superstitions – "Case" 82
• Superstitions – "Causes" 83
• Superstitions – "Centuries" 83
• Superstitions – "Character" 84
• Superstitions – "Childish" 85
• Superstitions – "Christian" 86
• Superstitions – "Church" 87
• Superstitions – "Circumstance" 88
• Superstitions – "Class" 89
• Superstitions – "Clearly" 89
• Superstitions – "Contrary" 90
• Superstitions – "Country" 91
• Superstitions – "Cruelties" 92
• Superstitions – "Curious" 92
• Superstitions – "Customs" 93
• Superstitions – "Darkness" 94
• Superstitions – "Desire" 95
• Superstitions – "Different" 95
• Superstitions – "Doctrine" 95
• Superstitions – "Don't" 96
• Superstitions – "Dread" 97
• Superstitions – "Educated" 98
• Superstitions – "Effectual" 98
• Superstitions – "England" 99
• Superstitions – "Englishmen" 100
• Superstitions – "Enthusiastic" 100
• Superstitions – "Explanation" 101
• Superstitions – "Faith" 101
• Superstitions – "Family" 103
• Superstitions – "Fanaticism" 104
• Superstitions – "Fancy" 104
• Superstitions – "Father" 105
• Superstitions – "Fears" 106
• Superstitions – "Feeling" 108
• Superstitions – "Felt" 109
• Superstitions – "Few" 110
• Superstitions – "Foolishly" 111
• Superstitions – "Forms" 112
• Superstitions – "Foundations" 113
• Superstitions – "Free" 114
• Superstitions – "Gloried" 114
• Superstitions – "Gods" 115
• Superstitions – "Greeks" 116
• Superstitions – "Grossest" 116
• Superstitions – "Having" 117
• Superstitions – "Head" 118
• Superstitions – "Heard" 118
• Superstitions – "Heathens" 119
• Superstitions – "Help" 119
• Superstitions – "Herself" 120
• Superstitions – "Historical" 121
• Superstitions – "Hold" 121
• Superstitions – "Humanity" 122
• Superstitions – "Idea" 123
• Superstitions – "Ignorant" 125
• Superstitions – "Imaginative" 127
• Superstitions – "Impression" 128
• Superstitions – "Indians" 129
• Superstitions – "Influence" 130
• Superstitions – "Journey" 130
• Superstitions – "Kept" 131
• Superstitions – "Kind" 131
• Superstitions – "Knowledge" 133
• Superstitions – "Laughs" 133
• Superstitions – "Law" 133
• Superstitions – "Led" 134
• Superstitions – "Legends" 135
• Superstitions – "Living" 136
• Superstitions – "Looking" 137
• Superstitions – "Lost" 138
• Superstitions – "Made" 138
• Superstitions – "Manners" 142
• Superstitions – "Matters" 142
• Superstitions – "Medicine" 143
• Superstitions – "Mother's" 144
• Superstitions – "Nation" 144
• Superstitions – "Natives" 145
• Superstitions – "Need" 146
• Superstitions – "Nothing" 147
• Superstitions – "Notions" 148
• Superstitions – "Numbers" 148
• Superstitions – "Object" 148
• Superstitions – "Opinion" 150
• Superstitions – "Origin" 150
• Superstitions – "Part" 151
• Superstitions – "Passed" 153
• Superstitions – "Passion" 153
• Superstitions – "Peasantry" 154
• Superstitions – "Philosophers" 154
• Superstitions – "Points" 155
• Superstitions – "Policy" 155
• Superstitions – "Poor" 156
• Superstitions – "Possible" 157
• Superstitions – "Power" 157
• Superstitions – "Practice" 158
• Superstitions – "Prejudices" 159
• Superstitions – "Present" 160
• Superstitions – "Priests" 161
• Superstitions – "Principle" 161
• Superstitions – "Progress" 162
• Superstitions – "Public" 163
• Superstitions – "Real" 163
• Superstitions – "Reasonable" 164
• Superstitions – "Religion" 166
• Superstitions – "Remains" 169
• Superstitions – "Respects" 170
• Superstitions – "Reverence" 171
• Superstitions – "Roman" 171
• Superstitions – "Rome" 172
• Superstitions – "Sacred" 172
• Superstitions – "Sailors" 173
• Superstitions – "Savage" 174
• Superstitions – "Science" 174
• Superstitions – "Secret" 175
• Superstitions – "Seek" 176
• Superstitions – "Sense" 176
• Superstitions – "Show" 177
• Superstitions – "Simple" 178
• Superstitions – "Sounds" 179
• Superstitions – "Spirit" 180
• Superstitions – "Spite" 181
• Superstitions – "Story" 181
• Superstitions – "Strange" 182
• Superstitions – "Strong" 183
• Superstitions – "Systems" 183
• Superstitions – "Things" 184
• Superstitions – "Truth" 186
• Superstitions – "Understand" 186
• Superstitions – "View" 187
• Superstitions – "Voice" 188
• Superstitions – "Wars" 189
• Superstitions – "Weak" 189
• Superstitions – "Wise" 190
• Superstitions – "Wished" 190
• Superstitions – "Wonder" 191
• Superstitions – "Work" 191
• Superstitions – "Years" 192
• Nonfiction Usage 195
• Qur'anic Usage 195
• Journalism Usage 195
• Bibliographic Usage 195
• Encyclopedic Usage 205
• Lexicographic Usage 211
• Index 240