Dictionary

susurrus en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈsu.sə.ɹəs/ (US)
• /ˈsuː.sə.ɹəs/ (UK)
• /səˈsəɹ.əs/ (US)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin susurrus (“a humming, whispering”); reduplication of imitative Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to buzz, hum”).

Meanings

1. (literary) A whispering or rustling sound; a murmur.
   • I sipped at a drink and smoked cigarettes in a silence so profound that I could hear the susurrus of the blindfold's soft fabric rustle and slip between my fingers. 2004, Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram: A Novel, →ISBN, page 613:
   • They heard the Green Fork before they saw it, an endless susurrus, like the growl of some great beast. 2000 August 8, George R[aymond] R[ichard] Martin, “”, in A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire; 3), London: Voyager, →ISBN, page 555:
   • [Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was] pelted with buckets of water by firemen, and, finally, currycombed and rubbed down by two grooms, keeping a sharp susurrus between them, so as to soothe his wounded feelings; […] 1847 February, Thomas De Quincey, “Notes on Walter Savage Landor”, in Leaders in Literature with a Notice of Traditional Errors Affecting Them (De Quincey’s Works; IX), London: James Hogg & Sons, →OCLC, pages 312–313:
   • The soft susurrus and sighs of the branches. 1847 November 1, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline, a Tale of Acadie, Boston, Mass.: William D. Ticknor & Company, →OCLC, (please specify either |part=I or II):
   • Bod could feel the Sleer listening to Jack's words, could feel a low susurrus of excitement building in the chamber. 2008, Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book, →ISBN, page 262:
   • I walked steadily toward the pennant pole amid a sea of susurrus murmurings. 2007, Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind, →ISBN, page 301:

Forms

Relateds

susurrous · susurration · susurrant · susurrate · insusurration

Translations (12)

fi rahina (whispering or rustling sound) · fi havina (whispering or rustling sound) · fi kahina (whispering or rustling sound) · he רשרוש (whispering or rustling sound) · bo དི་རི་རི (whispering or rustling sound) · es susurro (whispering or rustling sound) · de Säuseln (whispering or rustling sound) · fi rapina (whispering or rustling sound) · la susurrus (whispering or rustling sound) · he המהום (whispering or rustling sound) · fr susurrement (whispering or rustling sound) · bo འུར་རུ་རུ (whispering or rustling sound)