rumeur

Forms

rumeur f (plural rumeurs)^[1] Old French rimur (1080), rumor (about 1180) and, with the ending made French, rumeur (13th century).^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French rimur, inherited from Latin rūmor (“vague noises, hearsay”).^[3][4][2][1] The Old French ending ⟨-or⟩, ⟨-ur⟩ was later replaced by the French ⟨-eur⟩.^[2]

Cognate with Italian rumore, Spanish rumor and Old Occitan rumor.^[5][6] Rey calls the Latin noun the only clear Latin witness of a root found in Sanskrit and Old Church Slavonic verbs meaning “to cry”, and thinks a link with Latin rūgiō (“to roar”), the source of rugir, possible.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) rimur is the din of an army on the march: De quinze liues en ot hom la rimur (“the noise could be heard fifteen leagues away”).^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

The word first meant a great confused noise, and in Old French also an uproar.^[2] Bloch and Wartburg add that until the 16th century it could mean a quarrel or a movement of revolt, which partly explains the modern sense of a crowd's angry murmur.^[5]

As in Latin, it also named a piece of news of unknown origin passed from mouth to mouth (1264), as in les rumeurs publiques (1756, Voltaire).^[3][2] From 1407 it was the low, threatening noise of a crowd ready to revolt, and since 1651 (Scarron) the confused sound of many voices.^[3][2]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Rimur “noise of an army on the march” appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[3]
• c. 1180 – The form rumor is recorded.^[2][7]
• 1264 – First record of the sense “report going round, unconfirmed news”.^[3][8]
• 1407 – The Journal of Nicolas de Baye uses it for the threatening murmur of a crowd.^[3][7]
• 1651 – Scarron's Roman comique uses it for the confused sound of voices.^[3]
• 1756 – Voltaire writes les rumeurs publiques.^[3]
• 1788 – Féraud records la rumeur publique.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A rumour: news spreading among the public whose source and truth are uncertain: des rumeurs de guerre.^[9][10]
2. La rumeur publique: what people at large say or believe.^[10][9]
3. A confused murmur of protest or discontent from a group.^[9][10]
4. A confused mass of sounds and voices from a place where many people are gathered: la rumeur de la rue.^[10][3]
5. (literary) A loud, indistinct noise of any origin: la rumeur des vagues.^[10]

Related words

• rugir
• Latin rūmor

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 565a
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)