Emily Dickinson Lexicon

O'MEN, n. [L. omen; but according to Varro, it was originally osmen, that which is uttered by the mouth, denoting wish or vow, and with him agree Festus and Nonius, says Vossius. Another author derives the word from the Heb. ענן, an augur. Cicero assigns to the word the same origin as Varro. “Voces hominum, quæ vocent omina.” But the word came afterward to denote things rather than words.]

A sign or indication of some future event; a prognostic. Superstition and ignorance multiply omens; philosophy and truth reject all omens, except such as may be called causes of the events. Without a miracle, how can one event be the omen of another with which it has no connection?