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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Herald \Her"ald\, noun [OE. herald, heraud, OF. heralt, heraut, herault, F. h['e]raut, 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}.]
1. (Antiq.) 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.
2. 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}.
3. A proclaimer; one who, or that which, publishes or announces; as, the herald of another's fame. --Shak.
4. A forerunner; a a precursor; a harbinger.
It was the lark, the herald of the morn. --Shak.
5. Any messenger. "My herald is returned." --Shak.
{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}.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Herald \Her"ald\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Heralded}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Heralding}.] [Cf. OF. herauder, heraulder.] To introduce, or give tidings of, as by a herald; to proclaim; to announce; to foretell; to usher in. --Shak.
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
noun
1: (formal) a person who announces important news; "the chieftain had a herald who announced his arrival with a trumpet" [syn: {herald}, {trumpeter}]
2: something that precedes and indicates the approach of something or someone [syn: {harbinger}, {forerunner}, {predecessor}, {herald}, {precursor}]
verb
1: foreshadow or presage [syn: {announce}, {annunciate}, {harbinger}, {foretell}, {herald}]
2: praise vociferously; "The critics hailed the young pianist as a new Rubinstein" [syn: {acclaim}, {hail}, {herald}]
3: greet enthusiastically or joyfully [syn: {hail}, {herald}]
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Definitions retrieved from the Open Source DICT Webster's English and WordNet 3.0 dictionaries. Click here for database copyright information.
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