Noyse

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A loud or disruptive sound ; a rumor or report passed from person to person ; an archaic term for a group of musicians ; to circulate something through rumor
2. Unwanted or harsh sound ; gossip or a passing report ; a band of players, in older usage ; to spread a story abroad by word of mouth
3. A clamor or unpleasant din ; a rumored account going around ; an old word for an ensemble of instrumentalists ; to broadcast a tale by talk

Etymology: "Noyse" is simply the archaic spelling of "noise," so the story is really the story of "noise." It came into Middle English from Old French "noise," which meant a dispute, a wrangle or a strife before it meant a sound. The sense of commotion came first, and the sense of loud, unwelcome sound grew out of that quarrelling racket. Where the Old French word came from is unresolved. One proposal links it to Latin "nausia," meaning nausea or disgust, and another to Latin "noxia," meaning harm or injury, but neither fits the form and sense well. A more intriguing possibility is that it was a reduced form of the Old French verb "enoiier," meaning to bother or disturb, which descended from a Latin phrase meaning "to make repulsive." If that holds, "noise" is a distant relative of "annoy" and "ennui," all sharing the idea of being vexed. Old English had its own word for sound, "swēġ," which "noise" eventually displaced.

Synonyms: noise, sound, din, clamour

Antonyms: silence, quiet