The Origin of 'Inaugurate'

What does 'inaugurate' have to do with interpreting

omens?
Inauguration is all about telling what the future holds
etymologically speaking.
Inaugurate comes from the Latin word inaugurare, which was formed
by combining in- with augre, meaning to increase. Augre is likely
the origin of augur, spelled the same in Latin and English, though the
path of the words development isnt certain. Either augur originally
meant one who furthers the growth or increase of an enterprise and
subsequently one who sees favorable omens for success or the
progression could have been growth or increase owing to the gods
favor and subsequently favorable omen, with the omen then
becoming the word for the person who reads or announces it, making
an augur an offi cial diviner of ancient Rome. Another related word
developed to name the activity of augurs: augury .

In ancient Rome, the offi cial diviners job was to interpret signs and
portents before an important undertaking. Their function was not to
tell the future, but rather to discover whether or not the gods
approved of the action or offi ce before it was undertaken, which is
how 'inaugurate' came to mean to consecrate or to install or to
invest.

Augre is also the root of augment .

While inaugurare meant both to practice augury and to consecrate
by augury, referring to the rites connected with reading omens, only
the second meaning passed