# harbinger

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈhɑːbɪndʒə/ · frequency rank #32,427

## Definitions
1. A person or thing that foreshadows or foretells the coming of someone or something.
2. One who provides lodgings; especially, the officer of the English royal household who formerly preceded the court when travelling, to provide and prepare lodgings.

## Etymology
Originally, a person sent in advance to arrange lodgings. From Middle English herberjour, herbergeour, from Old French herbergeor (French hébergeur), from herbergier (“to set up camp; to shelter; to take shelter”) + -or (suffix forming agent nouns), from Old High German heribergan, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *harjabergu (“army camp, shelter”). Compare German Herberge, Italian albergo, Dutch herberg, English harbor. More at here, borrow.

## Common misspellings (14)
`ahrbinger`, `habringer`, `harbbinger`, `harbigner`, `harbinegr`, `harbingerr`, `harbingger`, `harbingre`, `harbinnger`, `harbniger`, `haribnger`, `harrbinger`, `hharbinger`, `hrabinger`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/harbinger