Herald

//ˈhɛɹəld// name, noun, verb

name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A messenger, especially one bringing important news.

    "The herald blew his trumpet and shouted that the King was dead."

  2. 2
    Alternative form of hareld (“long-tailed duck”). alt-of, alternative
  3. 3
    something that precedes and indicates the approach of something or someone wordnet
  4. 4
    A harbinger, giving signs of things to come.

    "Daffodils are heralds of Spring."

  5. 5
    (formal) a person who announces important news wordnet
Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    An official whose speciality is heraldry, especially one between the ranks of pursuivant and king-of-arms

    "Rouge Dragon is a herald at the College of Arms."

  2. 7
    A moth of the species Scoliopteryx libatrix.
  3. 8
    A handbill consisting of an advertisement.

    "New this season will be a 20-sheet poster depicting 21 K-M elephants parading to local Chevrolet agencies. Deal calls for use of the 20-sheet on poster panels where the auto agency has space allotment. Smaller versions of the same art also will be used. Circulation of Kelly-Miller heralds, which last season averaged between 5,000 and 6,000 copies per stand, will be in for one of the greatest boosts this year."

Verb
  1. 1
    To proclaim or announce an event. figuratively, often, transitive

    "Daffodils herald the Spring."

  2. 2
    praise vociferously wordnet
  3. 3
    To greet something with excitement; to hail. passive, transitive, usually

    "The film was heralded by critics."

  4. 4
    greet enthusiastically or joyfully wordnet
  5. 5
    foreshadow or presage wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.
  2. 2
    A census-designated place in Sacramento County, California, United States.

Synonyms

All synonyms
harbingerannounceannouncemessengeracclaimacclaim

Example

More examples

"Having scattered the enemy before me and triumphantly returned, this is how they would herald me."

Etymology

From Latin heraldus, from Middle English herald, herauld, heraud, from Anglo-Norman heraud, from Old French heraut, hiraut (modern French héraut), from Frankish *heriwald, from Proto-Germanic *harjawaldaz, a compound consisting of Proto-Indo-European *ker- (“army”) + *h₂welh₁- (“to be strong”). Doublet of Harold and Harald; compare Walter, which has these elements reversed.

Related phrases

herald mothherald patchking of armsscoliopteryx libatrix

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.