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DictionaryRoot: specere
Latin

specere

look

Forms

  • specere
  • -spic- — A changed form used inside Latin compounds.
  • spect- — The form used in derivatives referring to looking or having looked.

Origin

From an older Indo-European root usually reconstructed as *spek-, “observe.”

Note

Looking developed into ideas of attention, expectation, and judgment.

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noun

auspice

A sign interpreted as indicating what will happen.

The sudden clearing of the sky seems a favorable auspice.

Etymology
auLatinbird
+spiceLatinlook

Latin avis and specere connect the word with looking at birds. Roman diviners observed birds for indications of events, so the practice supplied a word for an omen or sign.

More examples

  • The ruler interpreted the bird's flight as an auspice.
  • They began the expedition under hopeful auspices.
  • The chronicler recorded the strange auspice before the battle.

Forms

auspice · auspices

Similar words

omen
Is the more usual word for a sign of future events.
portent
Often suggests an important or threatening future event.