n.
- an official employed to oversee state ceremonial and the use of armorial bearings, and (historically) to make proclamations, carry official messages, and oversee tournaments.
▸(in the UK) an official of the College of Arms ranking above a pursuivant.
- a person or thing viewed as a sign that something is about to happen:
primroses are the herald of spring.
- a brown moth with dull orange markings.
[Scoliopteryx libatrix.]
v.
- signal the imminence of.
- acclaim.
Etymology
ME: from OFr. herault (n.), herauder (v.), of Gmc origin.