Emily Dickinson Lexicon

auger, n. [see augur, n.]

aught, n. [OE aeht, possession, property.]

Anything; something; any part; a jot or tittle.

augment (augmented), v. [Fr. < L. augment-um, increase.]

Intensify; magnify; make greater; enlarge in size; extend by addition; expand the degree of; [philology] add a prefix to a word; increase the quality of a vowel.

augur, n. [Word play: pun on “auger” the tool and “augur” the omen.]

1. [ED's var. spelling of “auger”; OE nafu, nave of a wheel + gar, piercer, borer, spear.] Carpentry tool; drill bit; long metal shank; [fig.] beak; hard bird mouth.
2. [L. av-is, bird + -gar, talk; or L. augēre, increase, promote.] Prophet; diviner; soothsayer; Roman religious official who carried a staff; one who predicts future events in accordance with omens from the behavior of birds.

August (August), adj. [L. augustus < augur, consecrated by augury, auspicious.] (webplay: days, reverence, separating).

1. Late summer; pertaining to the eighth month of the year.
2. Venerable; majestic; stately; inspiring reverence; impressing the imagination as magnificent.

August, n. [OFr < L.; see August, adj.] (webplay: grace, gradually, March, nature, year).

Eighth month of the calendar year; time period of thirty-one days in New England's late summer; [word play] NW says: “AUGUSTINIANS … maintain that grace is effectual from its nature, absolutely … not gradually.”

Augustan, adj. [see August, adj.] (webplay: year).

Peaceful; calm; classical; dignified; like the relatively pacific reign of Caesar Augustus; pertaining to the 1530 Protestant principles that Martin Luther wrote in Augusta or Augsburg.

aurora, n. [L. 'goddess of the dawn, orient'.] (webplay: day, fingers, light, morn, morning, raise, red, rising).

1. Dawn; sunrise; enlightenment; period of first light; rising light that marks the beginning of a new twenty-four hour period; [fig.] resurrection; restoration; new life; rebirth having a body of light and perfection.
2. Ranunculus; buttercup; floral plant; species of crowfoot; [fig.] early life; maidenhood; young womanhood.

auroral, adj. [see aurora, n.] (webplay: light, morning, night).

1. Dawn-like; illuminating; enlightening; rich orange colored; early morning glow.
2. Lumen borealis; northern twilight; pertaining to wavy streams of color above the winter horizon.

auroran, adj. [ED var. of “aurorean”; see aurora, n.] (webplay: color, night).

Borealis; pertaining to the northern lights or to the light of the dawn.