Wiktionary

murmur

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English murmur, murmor, murmour, from Old French murmure (modern French murmure), from Latin murmur (“murmur, humming, muttering, roaring, growling, rushing etc.”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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murmur (countable and uncountable, plural murmurs)

  1. (countable, uncountable) Any low, indistinct sound, like that of running water.
    • 1854, Narrative of a Journey Round the Dead Sea, and in the Bible Lands:
      The delightful murmur of water running over pebbles is heard a few yards off
    • 1979: A translation of the Eclogues by Paul Alpers
      The windy murmur of the breeze subsides.
  2. (countable, uncountable) Soft indistinct speech.
    A murmur arose from the audience.
    • 1874, Marcus Clarke, chapter V, in For the Term of His Natural Life:
      In the prison of the 'tween decks reigned a darkness pregnant with murmurs. The sentry at the entrance to the hatchway was supposed to "prevent the prisoners from making a noise," but he put a very liberal interpretation upon the clause, and so long as the prisoners refrained from shouting, yelling, and fighting--eccentricities in which they sometimes indulged--he did not disturb them.
    • 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter XI, in Jeeves in the Offing:
      The moment had come for the honeyed word. I lowered my voice to a confidential murmur, but on her inquiring if I had laryngitis raised it again.
  3. (cardiology, medicine) The sound made by any condition which produces noisy, or turbulent, flow of blood through the heart.
  4. A muttered complaint or protest; the expression of dissatisfaction in a low muttering voice; any expression of complaint or discontent.
    • 1919, Boris Sidis, The Source and Aim of Human Progress:
      In fear of disease and in the interest of his health man will be muzzled and masked like a vicious dog, and that without any murmur of complaint.
    • 2004, Euan A. Ashley, Josef Niebauer, Cardiology Explained:
      Since aortic diastolic pressure is higher than pulmonary artery systolic pressure, there is continuous flow into the pulmonary circulation, creating the characteristic continuous ("machinery") murmur, heard best just below the left clavicle.
    • 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter XX, in Jeeves in the Offing:
      Glossop will return from his afternoon off to find the awful majesty of the Law waiting for him, complete with handcuffs. We can hardly expect him to accept an exemplary sentence without a murmur, so his first move will be to establish his innocence by revealing all.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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murmur (third-person singular simple present murmurs, present participle murmuring, simple past and past participle murmured)

  1. (intransitive, now rare) To grumble; to complain in a low, muttering voice, or express discontent at or against someone or something. [from 14th c.]
  2. (intransitive) To speak or make low, indistinguishable noise; to mumble, mutter. [from 14th c.]
    I couldn't hear the words; he just murmured a lot.
    The bees murmured in the forest. The waves murmured on the shore.
  3. (transitive) To say (something) indistinctly, to mutter. [from 15th c.]

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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Further reading

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Latin

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Etymology

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From Proto-Indo-European *mormur-, *mur- (“to mutter”). Reduplication points to imitative, onomatopoeic origin. Cognate with Sanskrit मर्मर (marmara, “rustling sound, murmur”), Ancient Greek μορμύρω (mormúrō, “to roar, boil”), Lithuanian mùrmėti (“to mutter, murmur, babble”), Old High German murmurōn, murmulōn (“to mumble, murmur”), Old Norse murra (“to grumble, mumble”), Old Armenian մռմռամ (mṙmṙam).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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murmur n (genitive murmuris); third declension

  1. murmur, murmuring
  2. humming, roaring, rumbling, growling, grumbling
    • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.55–56:
      Illī indignantēs magnō cum murmure montis
      circum claustra fremunt; [...].
      Those [stormwinds] resenting [their confinement]: With a mighty rumbling of the mountain all around, [against] locked gates they rage.
      (Evocative word-sounds convey fantastical noises caused by trapped winds: the alliteration of repeated “m’s” for menacing rumbling, and onomatopoeia using hard “c’s” to personify angry winds clanging their cages.)
  3. rushing, crashing

Declension

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Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

singular plural
nominative murmur murmura
genitive murmuris murmurum
dative murmurī murmuribus
accusative murmur murmura
ablative murmure murmuribus
vocative murmur murmura

Descendants

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References

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  • “murmur”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “murmur”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Old French murmure, from Latin murmur.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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murmur (plural murmurs)

  1. A whining, protesting or complaining in the background; murmuring.
  2. (rare) Background noise or sounds.

Descendants

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References

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Romanian

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Verb

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murmur

  1. first-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of murmura

Etymology 2

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Borrowed from Latin murmur or French murmure.

Noun

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murmur n (plural murmure)

  1. a murmur
Declension
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singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative-accusative murmur murmurul murmure murmurele
genitive-dative murmur murmurului murmure murmurelor
vocative murmurule murmurelor
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