whisper

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English whisperen, inherited from Old English hwisprian (“to speak very softly, murmur”),^[2][3][4][5] which is found only in Northumbrian, in a gloss on murmurō,^[4][5] inherited from Proto-Germanic *hwisprōną.^[4] It is formed on an imitative base, Proto-Germanic *hwis-, that suggested a hissing sound,^[6][7][8] and is related to Middle Dutch wispelen and Middle Low German wispelen,^[3][8] Old High German hwispalōn (modern German wispeln and wispern),^[3][5][9] Old Norse hvískra and hvísla,^[8][6] Danish hviske and Swedish viska.^[3][5] The same base, with a different suffix, gave whistle,^[7][9][3] and Etymonline traces it to an imitative root Proto-Indo-European *kwei- (“to hiss, whistle”).^[4] Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com also compare whine.^[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

To speak softly, under one's breath: Old English, in the Lindisfarne Gospels (about 950).^[5][12] The Middle English form whysperen is recorded in the Promptorium Parvulorum (1440).^[12]

Semantic evolution

From the 16th century the verb gained its other uses: to speak quietly or in secret against someone, implying malice or conspiracy (about 1530), to address someone in a whisper (1540), and to say something by whispering (1598, in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost), the transitive use that Etymonline dates to the 1560s.^[5][4] The figurative senses followed: to suggest secretly to the mind (1640) and, of leaves, water or wind, to make a soft rustling sound (1653, in Walton's Compleat Angler).^[5] The noun was formed from the verb in the 1590s,^[4][3][8] first for a secret report or hint (1596), then for the act of whispering (1609, in Pericles) and for a soft rustling sound (1638, in Milton's Lycidas).^[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as "a low soft voice".^[13] In 19th-century criminal slang a whisper was a tip or rumour (1849) and a request for money (1865), and to whisper meant to borrow money.^[14] In Kent, when someone in a household that kept bees died, it was the custom to go to the hives and whisper the death to the bees.^[15]

Timeline

• c. 950 – hwisprian, to speak softly, in the Lindisfarne Gospels.^[12][5]
• 1440 – whysperen, in the Promptorium Parvulorum.^[12]
• c. 1530 – to talk secretly or maliciously.^[5]
• 1596 – noun: a hint or rumour.^[5]
• 1598 – to say something in a whisper.^[5]
• 1609 – noun: the act of whispering.^[5]
• 1638 – noun: a soft rustling sound.^[5]
• 1653 – verb: to rustle softly.^[5]
• 1849 – (slang) a tip or rumour.^[14]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To speak very softly, using the breath and little or no voice: The children whispered so as not to wake the baby.
2. To say something softly or privately: She whispered the answer to her neighbour.
3. To talk or spread rumours secretly, especially with malice.
4. Of leaves, wind or water, to make a soft rustling sound.

Noun

1. A very soft, low voice: He spoke in a whisper.
2. Something said in such a voice.
3. A rumour, hint or secret report.
4. A soft rustling sound.

Word family

• whisperer
• whispery
• whisperous
• stage whisper

Related words

• whistle
• whine
• murmur

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
8. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
12. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
15. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)