propitious
adjective (formal)

- giving or indicating a good chance of success; favourable

- likely to result in success, or showing signs of success

Oxford Languages / Cambridge Dictionary /

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WORD ORIGIN

The word "propitious" comes from the Latin propitius, which means “favorable, gracious, or kindly disposed”. This, in turn, was derived from pro- (forward) and petere (to seek). So, you could say that "propitious" originally meant something akin to "forward seeking" in Latin, but over time it came to signify something favourable or advantageous.

“Propitious" first appeared in English during the late 15th century. Over the years, its usage has remained relatively consistent, and it is still used today to describe favourable, benevolent, or advantageous circumstances.

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A PROPITIOUS TIME TO RENOVATE
California Family Finds 1 Million Pennies in Old Crawl Space

The old saying goes, “Find a penny, pick it up, and all day long you’ll have good luck.” But what do you do if you find a million pennies? Such was the question facing John and Elizabeth Reyes while cleaning out her late father’s home in Los Angeles last year.

The couple and their family members had already spent years renovating the early-1900s house when they entered the crawl space and came upon some loose pennies. That led them to what turned out to be dozens of old bank bags filled with the coins, and they estimated they contained about 1 million pennies (if you’re trying to do the math, that works out to $10,000).

Given their age and potential rarity — the coins they looked at were copper, meaning they predate when the U.S. Mint began making them primarily out of zinc in 1982 — the Reyes’ figured the bags and their contents could be worth much more. “The value is in the uniqueness,” John recently told KTLA, sharing that he priced them at $25,000 on the resale website OfferUp.

Though it’s been difficult to get someone to buy the entire batch, John said it’s important to the family that the coins go for what they’re worth, as they see the penny stash as his father-in-law’s way of providing for his loved ones and creating generational wealth, something he was committed to doing before his death.

The New York Times (14th June 2023)

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SYNONYMS

advantageous, affable, auspicious, befitting, beneficial, benevolent, bright, bright-sided, clement, conducive, encouraging, favourable, felicitous, fortuitous, full of promise, heartening, hopeful, in favour (season), instrumental, lucky, opportune, optimistic, promising, PROPITIOUS, providential, ripe, rosy, seasonable, serendipitous, supportive, timely, well-chosen (-disposed, -placed, -suited, -timed)

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“It’s good to choose a PROPITIOUS moment to ask for a salary rise in return for your good service.”

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