good omen; auspicious sign
A formal, literary term for a favorable omen or propitious sign. Not used in everyday conversation; encountered mainly in classical or highly stylized writing.
Old documents record the appearance of a white deer as a good omen.
A Sino-Japanese compound of 禎 (てい, 'auspicious') and 祥 (しょう, 'sign, omen'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain; the word appears in classical Chinese and was adopted into literary Japanese.