rumor

Forms

• rumour (UK)

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English rumour, also rumor and romour,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French rumor, also rumour and rumur,^[2][4][3][5] now rumeur,^[4][5] and directly from Latin rūmor (“noise, clamour; common talk, hearsay”).^[2][6][4] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from the second quarter of the 12th century, meaning noise, uproar or outcry as well as rumour.^[7] The Latin noun is related to rāvus (“hoarse”),^[4][6][8] and Barnhart traces it to Proto-Indo-European *reu-, with cognates such as Middle High German rienen (“to moan”) and Old Norse rymja (“to roar”);^[6][8] Merriam-Webster adds Old English rēon (“to lament”).^[8] Dutch rumoer and German Rumor are from French.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A widespread report in a person's favour, praise: c. 1374, a sense now obsolete.^[9][3][5] Barnhart dates the word to about 1380, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius, in the sense of hearsay or gossip.^[6][10]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word covered unconfirmed report and gossip, news or tidings, and also loud shouting, an outcry of protest, and a stir or tumult.^[2][7] The general sense "talk or hearsay not based on definite knowledge" is recorded from 1382, with the phrase rumour has it,^[9][3] and a single circulating story of doubtful truth from about 1400.^[9] The sense of noisy protest died out in the 17th century, and "clamour, din" survives only in poetic use.^[3][4][11] Johnson (1755) defined it as "flying or popular report; bruit; fame".^[12] The verb, to spread by way of rumour, appears in the 1590s,^[4][9] in Shakespeare's Richard III according to Barnhart,^[6] though Merriam-Webster dates it to 1548.^[8] Rumorer is from about 1600, rumor-monger from 1884, and the figurative rumor mill from 1887.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1374 – a favourable report (obsolete).^[9]
• 1382 – general talk or hearsay.^[9]
• c. 1400 – a report of doubtful truth circulating in a community; an outcry of protest (obsolete).^[9]
• 1422 – verb, to resound with disapproval (obsolete).^[9]
• 1594 – verb, to circulate by way of rumour.^[9][6]
• 1884 – rumor-monger.^[4]
• 1887 – rumor mill.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A story or report passed from person to person whose truth has not been confirmed: There is a rumor that the factory will close.
2. Gossip or hearsay; common talk.
3. (archaic) Din or clamour.
4. (obsolete) Fame or reputation.

Verb

1. To spread or report something as a rumor, usually in the passive: He was rumored to be leaving the band.

Word family

• rumormonger

Related words

• rumor mill

Usage notes

Rumor is the American spelling,^[8][11] and British English writes rumour.^[8][11][4]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.