Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
susurrus
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Remove ads
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin susurrus (“a humming, whispering”); reduplication of imitative Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to buzz, hum”).
Pronunciation
Noun
susurrus (plural susurruses)
- (literary) A whispering or rustling sound; a murmur.
- 1847 February, Thomas De Quincey, “Notes on Walter Savage Landor”, in Leaders in Literature with a Notice of Traditional Errors Affecting Them (De Quincey’s Works; IX), London: James Hogg & Sons, →OCLC, pages 312–313:
- [Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was] pelted with buckets of water by firemen, and, finally, currycombed and rubbed down by two grooms, keeping a sharp susurrus between them, so as to soothe his wounded feelings; […]
- 1847 November 1, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline, a Tale of Acadie, Boston, Mass.: William D. Ticknor & Company, →OCLC, (please specify either |part=I or II):
- The soft susurrus and sighs of the branches.
- 2000 August 8, George R[aymond] R[ichard] Martin, “Catelyn [Stark]”, in A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire; 3), London: Voyager, →ISBN, page 555:
- They heard the Green Fork before they saw it, an endless susurrus, like the growl of some great beast.
- 2004, Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram: A Novel, →ISBN, page 613:
- I sipped at a drink and smoked cigarettes in a silence so profound that I could hear the susurrus of the blindfold's soft fabric rustle and slip between my fingers.
- 2007, Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind, →ISBN, page 301:
- I walked steadily toward the pennant pole amid a sea of susurrus murmurings.
- 2008, Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book, →ISBN, page 262:
- Bod could feel the Sleer listening to Jack's words, could feel a low susurrus of excitement building in the chamber.
Related terms
Translations
Remove ads
Latin
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads