Etymologically
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noise

Etymology and origin of the English word noise

History Permalink
Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1200
Borrowed from
Old French noise via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Latin (nausea)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /nɔɪz/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English noise,[2] borrowed from Old French noise (“din, uproar, brawl; rumour”) (11th century),[3][4][5] a word of uncertain origin.[3] According to most sources it is from Latin nausea (“seasickness”),[3][5][2][6] through a Gallo-Romance sense “annoyance, discomfort”,[4] the source of nausea;[7] others derive it from Latin noxia “hurt, injury”.[3] The OED considers the sense against both, and Barnhart finds the disparity of sense and form hard to accept.[3][4] It replaced native gedyn, the source of din.[3] In modern French noise survives only in chercher noise, “to pick a quarrel”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The sound of a musical instrument: about 1200 in Etymonline, probably before 1200 in Barnhart, in the Ancrene Riwle.[3][4] Loud outcry or clamour: before 1225 in the OED.[8]

Semantic evolution

A loud or disagreeable sound of any kind is from about 1290,[8] about 1300 in Etymonline.[3][4] Rumour, report or scandal is from 1297, now obsolete,[8][3] as is strife or quarrelling (1484).[8] In Middle English it could also be a pleasant sound,[3][5] and in the 16th and 17th centuries a band of musicians.[3][5] Noises off, in the theatre, is by 1908,[3] and make noises, to say something vaguely, from 1951.[8] The verb meant “to praise” about 1380, in Chaucer, and “to spread by rumour” in the late 14th century, as in it was noised abroad.[4][3] Noisy is from 1693, in Dryden.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1200 – the sound of an instrument.[3][4]
  • a. 1225 – clamour.[8]
  • c. 1290 – a loud sound.[8]
  • 1297 – rumour (obsolete).[8]
  • c. 1380 – verb, to praise.[4]
  • 1693 – noisy.[4]
  • 1908 – noises off.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A sound, especially a loud, unpleasant or unwanted one.
  2. A loud outcry or commotion.
  3. (technical) Random disturbance that obscures a signal or reduces the clarity of data.
  4. noises: remarks expressing a feeling or intention, often vaguely: making encouraging noises.

Verb

  1. To spread a rumour: it was noised abroad.

Word family

  • noiseless
  • noiselessly
  • antinoise
  • noisemaker
  • noiseproof
  • noisy
  • Johnson noise
  • thermal noise

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Noise.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/noise. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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