- harbinger
- c.1471, herbengar "one sent ahead to arrange lodgings" (for a monarch, an army, etc.), alt. of M.E. herberger "provider of shelter, innkeeper" (c.1175), from O.Fr. herbergeor, from herbergier "provide lodging," from herber "lodging, shelter," from Frank. *heriberga "lodging, inn" (cf. O.S., O.H.G. heriberga "army shelter," from heri "army" + berga "shelter"); see harbor. Sense of "forerunner" is 1550. Intrusive -n- is 15c. (see messenger).
- messenger
- early 13c., messager, from O.Fr. messagier, from message (see message). With parasitic -n- inserted by c.1300 for no apparent reason except that people liked to say it that way (cf. passenger, harbinger, scavenger).
- passenger
- early 14c., passager "passer-by," from O.Fr. passageor "traveler," noun use of passagier (adj.) "passing, fleeting, traveling," from passage (see passage). The -n- was added early 15c. (cf. messenger, harbinger, scavenger). Meaning "one traveling in a vehicle or vessel" first attested 1510s. Passenger-pigeon of N.Amer. so called from 1802; extinct since 1914.
- swallow (n.)
- "migratory bird" (family Hirundinidae), O.E. swealwe, from P.Gmc. *swalwon (cf. O.S., O.N., O.Fris., Swed. svala, Dan. svale, M.Du. zwalewe, Du. zwaluw, O.H.G. swalawa, Ger. Schwalbe), from PIE *swol-wi- (cf. Rus. solowej, Slovak slavik, Pol. slowik "nightinggale"). The etymological sense is disputed. Popularly regarded as a harbinger of summer; swallows building nests on or near a house is considered good luck. First record of swallow-tail is 1545, of a type of arrowhead; of a type of coat, 1835.
- scavenger
- originally "person hired to remove refuse from streets," from M.E. scawageour (1373), London official in charge of collecting tax on goods sold by foreign merchants, from Anglo-Fr. scawager, from scawage "toll or duty on goods offered for sale in one's precinct" (1402), from O.N.Fr. escauwage "inspection," from a Gmc. source (cf. O.H.G. scouwon, O.E. sceawian "to look at, inspect," see show). With intrusive -n- (1503) as in harbinger, passenger, messenger. Extended to animals 1596. The verb scavenge is a 1644 back-formation. Scavenger hunt is attested from 1940.