Something auspicious seems likely to lead to success or good luck, especially at the beginning of an event or period.
It comes from Latin *auspicium*, meaning 'divination by observing birds', from *avis* 'bird' and *specere* 'to look'. Romans believed that the flight of birds could show whether the gods favored an action.
Hidden in 'auspicious' is the image of priests watching birds to guess the future—literally reading the sky for a 'go' signal. We still look for modern signs, like good first impressions or symbolic dates, to feel that the universe is on our side.
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