auspice

English

Etymology

From Middle French auspice, from Latin auspicium, in turn from auspex.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ôsʹpĭs, IPA^(key): /ˈɔːspɪs/
• (US) enPR: ôsʹpĭs, IPA^(key): /ˈɔspɪs/
• (cot–caught merger) enPR: äsʹpĭs, IPA^(key): /ˈɑspɪs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːspɪs

Noun

auspice (plural auspices)

1. (chiefly in the plural) Patronage or protection.

   Synonym: aegis

   Hypernym: support

   This building was built under the auspices of the Friends of the Poor.

2. An omen or a sign.

   The circle of vultures was not a good auspice.

3. (obsolete) Divination from the actions of birds.

   Hypernyms: augury, fortunetelling, divination

Derived terms

• under the auspices of

Related terms

• auspiced
• auspicing
• auspicious

Translations

patronage

• Bulgarian: покровителство (bg) (pokrovitelstvo)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 保護 / 保护 (bou² wu⁶)

• Dutch: patronage (nl) f, auspiciën (nl) pl
• Finnish: suojelus (fi)
• French: auspices (fr)
• Greek: αιγίδα (el) (aigída)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: auspisier m pl

  Nynorsk: auspisiar m pl

• Russian: покрови́тельство (ru) (pokrovítelʹstvo), проте́кция (ru) (protékcija)

omen

• Bulgarian: знамение (bg) (znamenie), предзнаменование (bg) (predznamenovanie)
• Catalan: auspici (ca) m
• Dutch: voorteken (nl) n, omen (nl) n
• Finnish: enne (fi), ennusmerkki (fi)
• French: auspice (fr) m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: auspisier m pl

  Nynorsk: auspisiar m pl

• Russian: предзнаменова́ние (ru) (predznamenovánije)
• Turkish:

  Ottoman Turkish: اوغور (uğur) (a favorable one)

Verb

auspice (third-person singular simple present auspices, present participle auspicing, simple past and past participle auspiced)

1. (transitive) To be patron of; to sponsor.

   The music festival was auspiced by a popular radio station.

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin auspicium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /os.pis/

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Noun

auspice m (plural auspices)

1. (chiefly in the plural) omen; auspices

Derived terms

• auspicieux
• sous les auspices de

Further reading

• “auspice”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Italian

Etymology

From Latin auspex.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaws.pi.t͡ʃe/
• Rhymes: -awspitʃe
• Hyphenation: àu‧spi‧ce

Noun

auspice m (plural auspici)

1. auspex
2. patron, sponsor, promoter

Related terms

• auspicio
• auspicare

Further reading

• “auspice”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Latin

Noun

auspice

1. ablative singular of auspex