Bruits

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Sounds generated by turbulent blood flow in vessels that may suggest cardiovascular health problems
2. Noises detected within arteries or veins that can indicate potential medical concerns related to circulation
3. Unusual sounds heard over blood vessels caused by disrupted blood flow, often signaling a health abnormality

Etymology: The medical sense of "bruit" is a stethoscope-era term, but the word itself is far older and once meant nothing like a heartbeat. In Old French it referred to noise, tumult, or the clamour of a crowd, and it could also mean fame or rumour. That range of senses survives in the modern French "bruit", which still means noise or a report that is going around. The word grew from a past participle of "bruire", meaning to roar or rustle, which came from a Late Latin alteration of "rugire", "to roar". English borrowed the noun in the Middle Ages, when it also carried the sense of hearsay and was used as a collective noun for a group of barons. The medical sense, a faint sound heard over an artery or the heart, is a much later specialist use built on the older idea of a noise. As a plural, "bruits" is the form used for several such sounds at once, as a clinician would describe them during an examination.

Synonyms: rumors, gossip, reports, whispers, tales