Herald

n. [O. Fr. her'uld, heralt, harald, harauld, heraut, hiraut, N. Fr. hérault, héraut, Sp. heraldo, haraldo, It. araldo, Pg. arauto, L. Lat. heraldus, heraldus, heroldus, Ger. herold, from O. H. Ger. as if hariwalto, herizwalt, hariowalt, a (civil) officer who serves the army, from hari, heri, army, and walten, N. H. Ger. walten, to manage, govern.]

1. (Antiq.) An officer whose business was to denounce or proclaim war, to challenge to battle, to proclaim peace, and to bear messages from the commander of an army.
2. An officer whose business is to marshal, order, and conduct royal cavalcades, ceremonies at coronations, royal marriages, installations, creations of dukes and other nobles, embassies, funeral processions, declarations of war, proclamations of peace, &c.; also, to record and blazon the arms of the nobility and gentry, and to regulate abuses therein. [Eng.]
3. A proclaimer; a publisher; as, the herald of another's fame.
4. A forerunner; a precursor; a harbinger.

It was the lark, the herald of the morn. Shak.