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Definition of harbinger : 1. A forerunner; a precursor; a messenger.
2. One who provides lodgings; especially, the officer of the English royal household who formerly preceded the court when traveling, to provide and prepare lodgings.
3. To usher in; to be a harbinger of.

Synonyms:

augur, denote, declare, predict, auspicate, angel, foreshadow, show, prefigure, outrider, promise, foresight, call, hail, betoken, forebode, foretell, portend, annunciate, bode, signal, acclaim, prognosticate, announce, preview, presager, tip-off, anticipate, trumpeter, litmus test, forecast, foregoer

delegate, carrier, messenger, envoy, mediator, herald, courier, mailman, dispatcher, announcer, postman

forerunner, antecessor, pioneer, originator, avant-garde, antecedent, precursor, mother, predecessor, prototype, scout, trailblazer, forebear, founder, foreshadower, ancestor, precedent

foretoken, caution, portent, indication, premonitory sign, pre-indication, warning signal, presage, foretaste, forewarning, sign, writing on the wall, augury, omen, symptom

Usage examples:

• Sir Francis Drake, the earliest harbinger of Britain's dominance on the seas, appeared off the Plate on his way to the Pacific. - "The South American Republics Part I of II", Thomas C. Dawson.
• Will you now send my copy of the Harbinger to Almira? - "Early Letters of George Wm. Curtis", G. W. Curtis, ed. George Willis Cooke.
• I will consider that in meeting her to- night I have met with one of those birds whose appearance is to the sailor the harbinger of good luck. - "Shirley", Charlotte Brontë.