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''herald'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260125204041-00-⌔

herald - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

herald (plural heralds)

  • A messenger, especially one bringing important news.
    • ✤ Synonym: bode
    • ✤ The herald blew his trumpet and shouted that the King was dead.
  • A harbinger, giving signs of things to come.
    • ✤ Daffodils are heralds of Spring.
  • (heraldry) An official whose speciality is heraldry, especially one between the ranks of pursuivant and king-of-arms
    • ✤ Synonym: pursuivant
    • ✤ Rouge Dragon is a herald at the College of Arms.
  • (entomology) A moth of the species Scoliopteryx libatrix.
  • (advertising) A handbill consisting of an advertisement.
    • ✤ New this season will be a 20-sheet poster depicting 21 K-M elephants parading to local Chevrolet agencies. Deal calls for use of the 20-sheet on poster panels where the auto agency has space allotment. Smaller versions of the same art also will be used.
      Circulation of Kelly-Miller heralds, which last season averaged between 5,000 and 6,000 copies per stand, will be in for one of the greatest boosts this year.      1

Verb

herald (third-person singular simple present heralds, present participle heralding, simple past and past participle heralded)

  • (transitive, often figurative) To proclaim or announce an event.
    • ✤ Synonyms: disclose, make known; see also Thesaurus: announce
    • ✤ Daffodils herald the Spring.
    • ✤ Then, some five miles north of Bolna, the entry into the Arctic is heralded by a long blast on the whistle of the engine. The Arctic Circle is marked by a sign on the east side of the line.2
    • ✤ Our arrival at Worcester is heralded by the appearance of the city’s cathedral tower, a solid square structure that’s dominated the skyline since the 12th century.3
  • (transitive, usually passive) To greet something with excitement; to hail.
    • ✤ The film was heralded by critics.

Noun

herald (plural heralds)

  • Alternative form of hareld (“long-tailed duck”).

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA: /ˈhɛɹəld/
  • (Australian, New Zealand) IPA: /ˈheɹəld/
  • (Scotland, Wales) IPA: /ˈhɛɾəld/
  • Homophone: Harold (Mary–marry–merry merger)
  • Rhymes: -ɛɹəld

Etymology 1

From Latin heraldus, from Middle English herald, herauld, heraud, from Anglo-Norman heraud, from Old French heraut, hiraut (modern French héraut), from Frankish ﹡heriwald, from Proto-Germanic ﹡harjawaldaz, a compound consisting of Proto-Indo-European ﹡ker- (“army”) + ﹡h₂welh₁- (“to be strong”). Doublet of Harold and Harald; compare Walter, which has these elements reversed.

Etymology 2

Printed 2026-06-28.

(echo:: @ ⌗)

Footnotes

  1. 1951 February 24, Billboard, page 52: ↩

  2. 1957 August, H. A. Vallance, “By Rail to the Norwegian Arctic”, in Railway Magazine, page 574: ↩

  3. 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 67: ↩

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