From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishharbingerhar‧bin‧ger /ˈhɑːbɪndʒə $ ˈhɑːrbɪndʒər/ noun [countable] literary or formal SIGN/INDICATIONa sign that something is going to happen soonharbinger of These birds are considered to be harbingers of doom.
Examples from the Corpus
harbinger• Many analysts say a weak January in the small-cap arena is a harbinger of underperformance of the sector for the year.• An ugly start is not necessarily a harbinger of worse things to come.• Edwards was no more than a harbinger of the new way.• This was a harbinger of glasnost to come.• In the past, comets were feared harbingers of important historical events, including invasions and major disasters.• The structure of agriculture makes it difficult to treat the peasant drive for noble land as the harbinger of rural capitalism.• They were the harbingers of something terrible.harbinger of• The increase in homes prices may be a harbinger of better economic times.Origin harbinger (1100-1200) Old French herbergere “host”, from herberge “place you stay at” 