Etymologically
Log in

murmur

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 23:50. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈmʊr.mʊr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈmur.mur][1]

Forms

murmur n (genitive murmuris); third declension[1] It is masculine once in Varro's Menippean Satires.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *mr̥-mr̥-, a reduplicated, imitative formation; the OLD calls it onomatopoeic.[4][2][1] De Vaan notes that the verb murmurō (“to murmur”) is recorded earlier, so the noun may be formed from it.[4] Cognate with Sanskrit मुर्मुर (múrmura, “crackling fire”), Ancient Greek μορμύρω (mormúrō, “to roar and boil”) and Lithuanian murmė́ti (“to murmur”).[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler give Pacuvius as its first author, who has murmur maris, the roar of the sea.[4][6][2]

Semantic evolution

It is a low, continuous noise: of natural forces a rumble or roar, of animals a growl or grunt, as Ovid's men turned into pigs, and of bees a hum, as in Virgil's plain loud with their buzzing.[2] It is also a low or indistinct voice, the whispers of lovers in Ovid, the murmur of a crowd, and a mutter of anger: Varro's crowd gives a fierce murmur.[2]

Church Latin glosses it “murmuring”.[7] Medieval Latin uses it for a complaint or charge.[8] English murmur (late 14th century), first a grumbling of discontent, comes from it through Old French.[9]

Timeline

  • 220–130 BC – Pacuvius of the roar of the sea.[4][2][6]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro of an angry murmur.[2][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of the hum of bees.[2][6]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of grunts and whispers.[2][6]
  • late 14th century – English murmur.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A low continuous noise; a rumble, roar; a growl; a hum.[2][1]
  2. A murmur, mutter, whisper; grumbling.[2][1][7]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A complaint, charge.[8]

Word family

  • murmurillum
  • murmuriosus
  • murmurō
  • susurrus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com