Omen
a sign believed to prognosticate a future event. Omens have been common among most nations, but were chiefly received in the ruder ages, and among the more ignorant of a people.
Even in the present day, in many parts of England and the United States, a superstitious belief in omens exists. The howling of a dog by night is believed to presage a death in the neighborhood.
The screeching of the owl and the croaking of the raven have, both in ancient and modern times, been regarded as omens of some dire calamity. To present a knife, scissors, razor, or other sharp or cutting instrument to one's friend is unlucky, as they are apt to divide love and friendship. The list could be multiplied indefinitely. Fishermen and sailors are particularly influenced by omens, which they fancy they discover in the most trivial circumstances. To lose a bucket, or to throw a cat overboard, is believed to be very unlucky. Whistling is supposed to raise the wind. By a regard to these things, many persons add very considerably to their proper share of human misery without any countervailing amount of good.