Augers v. Augurs

These are augers.

NRCS photo of soil augers. Click image for source.

This is an augur.

A Roman augur. Image from Wikipedia. Click image for source.

The free dictionary defines augur as follows:

n.

1. One of a group of ancient Roman religious officials who foretold events by observing and interpreting signs and omens.

2. A seer or prophet; a soothsayer.

v. au·gured, au·gur·ing, au·gurs

v.tr.

1. To predict, especially from signs or omens; foretell. See Synonyms at foretell.

2. To serve as an omen of; betoken: trends that augur change in society.

v.intr.

1. To make predictions from signs or omens.

2. To be a sign or omen: A smooth dress rehearsal augured well for the play.

 

More often that not, my students I are talking about augering not auguring. Though one could argue that when we make hypotheses, we are in fact auguring. I think however, we should avoid using that word in our writing.

“I augur that our sites will be quite extensively augered to determine the soil characteristics.”