'augure' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'augur', where the term meant 'diviner, soothsayer'.

'augure' passed into English via Old French 'augure' and Middle English 'augure', later existing alongside the form 'augur' in modern English.

Initially, it meant 'a person who interprets omens (diviner)'; over time the sense broadened to include the verbs 'to predict' or 'to be a sign of' and became less common, often replaced by 'augur'.