Etymologically
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rumore

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Pronunciation

Forms

rumore m (plural rumori)[1] Old forms include Old Italian remore, Old Italian rimore, Old Italian ramore and Old Italian remure.[2][3] The form romore, usual in Old Italian, is now archaic or literary.[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin rūmor (“noise, murmur; talk, rumour”).[6][7][3][1] The early form Old Italian romore is explained by DELI and GDLI from a spoken variant Vulgar Latin *romor, though DELI adds that an unstressed /u/ often turned into /o/ in Italian anyway.[6][2][8] The form with /u/ was still rare beside the one with /o/ in the 18th century and prevailed only in the 19th;[6][9] Prati calls it a literary form.[6][9] The same Latin word gave Old French remour (today French rumeur), Occitan rimor, Catalan remor, Spanish rumor and Portuguese rumor.[7]

The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Italic *roumōs.[10][1] It has been linked with Ancient Greek ὠρύομαι (ōrúomai, “to howl”) and with a root for roaring or shouting, Proto-Indo-European *h₃rewH-, but de Vaan calls the connection only possible.[10][1][7] Nocentini puts it with the imitative base of rugiō (“to roar”), the source of ruggire.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT and Nocentini date the word to the early 12th century, in the old form remore.[3][7] Romore is in Bono Giamboni before 1292, and rumore in Jacopone da Todi before 1306, for a noise.[6] Monte Andrea compares himself to a stag that, quando ode il suo romore (“when it hears the hunter's noise”), goes towards its death.[2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian stretched “noise” to a din and an uproar (about 1300, where it is properly “weeping with cries”) and to a riot or revolt of the people, recorded in 1305 and before 1342 in Domenico Cavalca.[6] Petrarch's Polyphemus ne fa gran romori, raging and lamenting, and in Boccaccio a romore rises against the king.[3] The figurative sense of gossip, talk and a stir is recorded before 1527 in Machiavelli.[6] Today fare rumore is to cause a sensation, and mettere a rumore to set in uproar.[8][3]

In the 20th century the word became a term of physics and engineering for a mixture of irregular vibrations (rumore bianco, white noise), of the theory of communication for anything that disturbs a message, and of medicine for sounds heard through the stethoscope.[3][8][11]

Timeline

  • Early 12th century – The form remore is recorded.[3][7]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses romore.[6]
  • c. 1300 – The sense “weeping with cries, uproar” is recorded.[6]
  • Before 1306 – Jacopone da Todi writes rumore.[6]
  • Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses it for a popular uprising.[6]
  • Before 1527 – Machiavelli uses romore for talk and rumour.[6]
  • 19th century – Rumore finally replaces romore.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. noise, a sound with irregular, unmusical vibrations, often unpleasant: Il rumore dei camion mi ha svegliato.[3][4][8]
  2. (physics) An emission of sound waves with no definite frequency: rumore bianco.[3][4][11]
  3. A loud, confused noise of voices, a din; also a murmur.[3][4]
  4. (figurative) A stir, a sensation: La sua scoperta ha fatto molto rumore.[4][8][5]
  5. (dated) A rumour, unofficial news that spreads quickly; also gossip.[3][8][1]
  6. (archaic) A riot, a popular uprising.[3][5]
  7. (linguistics, telecommunications) Anything that disturbs the passing of a message from sender to receiver.[8][11]
  8. (medicine) A sound heard on auscultation, often a sign of disease: rumori cardiaci.[8]

Word family

  • rumoreggiamento
  • rumoreggiare
  • rumorio
  • rumorista
  • rumorosità
  • rumoroso
  • antirumore
  • rumorismo
  • rumoristico
  • romore
  • Latin rumor
  • French rumeur

Usage notes

Tanto rumore per nulla is still used for a fuss over nothing.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  4. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  9. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
  10. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  11. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli