herald
Bearer of tidings
A herald was originally a royal official who made proclamations, carried messages between rulers, and oversaw ceremonies—especially the protocols of tournaments and the granting of coats of arms.
The word now means anyone or anything that announces what's coming: The robin is a herald of spring.
To herald something is to signal or announce its arrival: Critics heralded the album as a masterpiece.
The verb often carries a note of celebration or significance. (Capitalized Herald often appears in newspaper names.)
One who foreshadows
- precursorSomething that comes first
- vanguardForemost position or group
- pioneerEarly explorer or settler
- trailblazerFirst to forge ahead
pathfinder · foretoken · presage · foreshadowing · portent · advance · usher · antecedent
Declare officially and openly
- broadcastTransmitted media signal
- declareState officially
- publicizeMake information widely available
- trumpetValved brass wind instrument
blazon · announce · pronounce · publish · disclose · reveal · communicate · disseminate
Sign of future calamity
- auguryOmen interpretation practice
- prophecyForetelling of future events
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
- premonitionAdvance sense of future events
foreshadowing · oracle · auspice · prognostication · presage · warning · sign · foretell
Delivery person or service
- envoyAccredited diplomatic representative
- emissaryAgent sent abroad
- bearerOne who conveys something
- runnerOne who sprints
page · intermediary · delegate · representative · ambassador · crier · town crier · nuncio
harbinger
One who foreshadows
- precursorSomething that comes first
- vanguardForemost position or group
- pioneerEarly explorer or settler
trailblazer · pathfinder · foretoken · presage · foreshadowing · portent · advance · usher · antecedent · prelude
proclaim
Declare officially and openly
trumpet · blazon · announce · pronounce · publish · disclose · reveal · communicate · disseminate · promulgate
portent
Sign of future calamity
- auguryOmen interpretation practice
- prophecyForetelling of future events
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
premonition · foreshadowing · oracle · auspice · prognostication · presage · warning · sign · foretell · divination
courier
Delivery person or service
runner · page · intermediary · delegate · representative · ambassador · crier · town crier · nuncio · legate
coat of arms
Hereditary symbolic emblem
- crestHighest point or tuft
- escutcheonShield bearing heraldry
- blazonHeraldic shield notation
armorial · shield · emblem · insignia · device · motto · charge · quartering · tabard · achievement
- royaltyking, queen, prince, princess, kings
- princely courtsthrone room, courtiers, royal advisors, nobles, ladies-in-waiting
- Royal Courtscaliph, French court, courtier, vizier, courtiers
- Court Officialschamberlain, steward, seneschal, majordomo, cupbearer
- Hundred Years' WarHundred Years' War, Agincourt, Poitiers, Joan of Arc, Henry V
- military attendantsaide-de-camp, batman, orderly, aide, adjutant
heraldfollow
Go behind another
aftermath · result · consequence · succeed · successor
- heraldic emblemsSymbols denoting lineage
- herald angelHeavenly proclaimer of news
- Herald SquareMidtown Manhattan public plaza
- Hark the HeraldYuletide hymn about angels
heralds, heralded, heraldry, heralding, unheralded, heraldic