Herald

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: her=ald

CIDE DICTIONARY

Herald, n. [OE. herald, heraud, OF. heralt, heraut, herault, F. héraut, LL. heraldus, haraldus, fr. (assumed) OHG. heriwalto, hariwaldo, a (civil) officer who serves the army; hari, heri, army + waltan to manage, govern, G. walten; akin to E. wield. See Harry, Wield.].

•  An officer whose business was to denounce or proclaim war, to challenge to battle, to proclaim peace, and to bear messages from the commander of an army. He was invested with a sacred and inviolable character.  [1913 Webster]
•  In the Middle Ages, the officer charged with the above duties, and also with the care of genealogies, of the rights and privileges of noble families, and especially of armorial bearings. In modern times, some vestiges of this office remain, especially in England. See Heralds' College (below), and King-at-Arms.  [1913 Webster]
•  A proclaimer; one who, or that which, publishes or announces; as, the herald of another's fame.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
•  A forerunner; a a precursor; a harbinger.  [1913 Webster]

  "It was the lark, the herald of the morn."  [1913 Webster]
•  Any messenger.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

Heralds' College, in England, an ancient corporation, dependent upon the crown, instituted or perhaps recognized by Richard III. in 1483, consisting of the three Kings-at-Arms and the Chester, Lancaster, Richmond, Somerset, Windsor, and York Heralds, together with the Earl Marshal. This retains from the Middle Ages the charge of the armorial bearings of persons privileged to bear them, as well as of genealogies and kindred subjects; -- called also College of Arms.

Herald, v. t. [Cf. OF. herauder, heraulder.].

 To introduce, or give tidings of, as by a herald; to proclaim; to announce; to foretell; to usher in.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Herald, n. & v.
--n.
1 an official messenger bringing news.
2 a forerunner (spring is the herald of summer).
3 a hist. an officer responsible for State ceremonial and etiquette. b Brit. an official of the Heralds' College.
--v.tr. proclaim the approach of; usher in (the storm heralded trouble).

Idiom

Heralds' College Brit. colloq. = College of Arms.

Etymology

ME f. OF herau(l)t, herauder f. Gmc

THESAURUS

Herald

Clarenceux, College of Arms, Gabriel, Garter, Lyon, Norroy, Norroy and Ulster, ancestor, announce, announcer, antecede, antecedent, antedate, anticipate, avant-garde, ballyhoo, be before, be early, bellwether, blare, blare forth, blaze, blaze abroad, blaze the trail, blazon, blazon about, break the trail, buccinator, buccinator novi temporis, bushwhacker, celebrate, come before, commissar, commissary, commissionaire, commissioner, courier, crier, cry, cry out, declaim, delegate, earl marshal, emissary, envoy, evangel, evangelist, explorer, forebear, foregoer, forerun, forerunner, foreshadower, foreshow, front runner, frontiersman, fugleman, give notice, go before, groundbreaker, guide, harbinger, herald abroad, herald angel, innovator, introduce, king at arms, king of arms, lead, lead runner, leader, legate, messenger, minister, mouthpiece, notify, official spokesman, outrider, pathfinder, pioneer, point, preannounce, precede, precedent, precurse, precursor, predate, predecessor, preexist, preindicate, premonitor, presage, presager, proclaim, prolocutor, prolocutress, prolocutrix, promulgate, rapporteur, reporter, run before, scout, secretary, shout, speaker, spokesman, spokeswoman, stormy petrel, thunder, thunder forth, trailblazer, trailbreaker, trumpet, trumpet forth, usher in, vanguard, vaunt-courier, voice, voortrekker

ROGET THESAURUS

Herald

Precursor

N precursor, antecedent, precedent, predecessor, forerunner, vancourier, avant-coureur, pioneer, prodrome, prodromos, prodromus, outrider, leader, bellwether, herald, harbinger, foreboding, dawn, avant-courier, avant-garde, bellmare, forelooper, foreloper, stalking-horse, voorlooper, voortrekker, prelude, preamble, preface, prologue, foreword, avant-propos, protasis, proemium, prolusion, proem, prolepsis, prolegomena, prefix, introduction, heading, frontispiece, groundwork, preparation, overture, exordium, symphony, premises, prefigurement, omen, precursory, prelusive, prelusory, preludious, proemial, introductory, prefatory, prodromous, inaugural, preliminary, precedent, a precedent embalms a principle.

Priority

VB precede, come before, forerun, go before, preexist, dawn, presage, herald, usher in, be beforehand, steal a march upon, anticipate, forestall, have the start, gain the start.

Precession

VB go before, go ahead, go in the van, go in advance, precede, forerun, usher in, introduce, herald, head, take the lead, lead the way, lead the dance, get the start, have the start, steal a march, get before, get ahead, get in front of, outstrip, take precedence.

Prediction

VB predict, prognosticate, prophesy, vaticinate, divine, foretell, soothsay, augurate, tell fortunes, cast a horoscope, cast a nativity, advise, forewarn, presage, augur, bode, abode, forebode, foretoken, betoken, prefigure, preshow, portend, foreshow, foreshadow, shadow forth, typify, pretypify, ominate, signify, point to, usher in, herald, premise, announce, lower, hold out expectation, raise expectation, excite expectation, excite hope, bid fair, promise, lead one to expect, be the precursor, extrapolate, project.

Publication

VB publish, make public, make known, speak of, talk of, broach, utter, put forward, circulate, propagate, promulgate, spread, spread abroad, rumor, diffuse, disseminate, evulugate, put forth, give forth, send forth, emit, edit, get out, issue, bring before the public, lay before the public, drag before the public, give out, give to the world, put about, bandy about, hawk about, buzz about, whisper about, bruit about, blaze about, drag into the open day, voice, proclaim, herald, blazon, blaze abroad, noise abroad, sound a trumpet, trumpet forth, thunder forth, give tongue, announce with beat of drum, announce with flourish of trumpets, proclaim from the housetops, proclaim at Charing Cross, advertise, placard, post, post up afficher, publish in the Gazette, send round the crier, raise a cry, raise a hue and cry, raise a report, set news afloat, be published, be public, become public, come out, go about, fly about, buzz about, blow about, get about, get abroad, get afloat, get wind, find vent, see the light, go forth, take air, acquire currency, pass current, go the rounds, go the round of the newspapers, go through the length and breadth of the land, virum volitare per ora, pass from mouth to mouth, spread, run like wildfire, spread like wildfire.

Messenger

N messenger, envoy, emissary, legate, nuncio, internuncio, ambassador, marshal, flag bearer, herald, crier, trumpeter, bellman, pursuivant, parlementaire, apparitor, courier, runner, dak, estafette, Mercury, Iris, Ariel, commissionaire, errand boy, chore boy, newsboy, mail, overnight mail, express mail, next-day delivery, post, post office, letter bag, delivery service, United Parcel Service, UPS, Federal Express, Fedex, telegraph, telephone, cable, wire (electronic information transmission), carrier pigeon, (news) 532 reporter, gentleman of the press, representative of the press, penny-a-liner, special correspondent, own correspondent, spy, scout, informer.