English

Noun

susurrus ‎(plural susurruses)

1. (literary) A whispering or rustling sound; a murmur.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of De Quincey to this entry?)

   The soft susurrus and sighs of the branches. — Longfellow.

   • 2000, George R. R. Martin, A Storm of Swords, ISBN 9780553106633, page 555:

     They heard the Green Fork before they saw it, an endless susurrus, like the growl of some great beast.

   • 2004, Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram: A Novel, ISBN 0312330529, page 613:

     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.

   • 2007, Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind, ISBN 9780756404741, page 301:

     I walked steadily toward the pennant pole amid a sea of susurrus murmurings.

   • 2008, Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book, ISBN 0060530928, page 262:

     Bod could feel the Sleer listening to Jack's words, could feel a low susurrus of excitement building in the chamber.

Related terms

• insusurration
• susurrant, susurrous
• susurrate
• susurration

Translations

Latin

Etymology

Reduplication of imitative Proto-Indo-European *swer- ‎(“to buzz, hum”). See also Latin surdus, Lithuanian surma ‎(“a pipe”), Russian свире́ль ‎(svirélʹ, “a pipe, reed”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /suˈsur.rus/, [sʊˈsʊr.rʊs]

Noun

susurrus m ‎(genitive susurrī); second declension

1. whisper
2. murmur

Inflection

Second declension.

Descendants

• Italian: sussurro

References

• susurrus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• susurrus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “susurrus”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.