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1 Definition
Susurration is a soft, whispering or rustling sound, like the murmur of leaves in the wind or hushed voices in a room.
2 In Use
A susurration of hushed conversation rippled through the courtroom the moment the verdict was announced.
3 Word Origin
Susurration traces back to the Latin word susurrus, meaning a hum, murmur, or whisper, which itself is believed to be onomatopoeic, imitating the very sound it describes. The Latin verb susurrare, to murmur or hum, gave rise to susurration in Middle English through borrowed Latinate vocabulary favored by scholars and poets. Over centuries it settled into English as a somewhat literary term for soft, layered sound rather than a single sharp noise.
💡Fun Fact
Because the word itself sounds like what it describes, susurration is often cited as a classic example of onomatopoeia in English, alongside words like buzz and hiss. Poets and novelists reach for it when a plain word like whisper feels too thin, especially when describing collective or ambient sound, such as a crowd's murmur or wind moving through a field. It has a close cousin in susurrus, a shorter noun with nearly identical meaning, and the two are sometimes used interchangeably by writers who want variety without losing the whispery texture. The word also appears occasionally in scientific writing to describe faint background sounds detected in recordings, showing its reach beyond literary prose.
