herald.
A messenger, especially one bringing important news.
Meaning & usage
A messenger, especially one bringing important news.
The herald blew his trumpet and shouted that the King was dead.
A harbinger, giving signs of things to come.
Daffodils and robins are heralds of Spring.
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.
A moth of the species Scoliopteryx libatrix.
A handbill consisting of an advertisement.
Where this word comes from
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.
To proclaim or announce an event.
Daffodils herald the Spring.
To greet something with excitement; to hail.
The film was heralded by critics.
Where this word comes from
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.
Alternative form of hareld (“long-tailed duck”).
Try it on your idea.
herald has 6 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.