Psithurism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The soft whispering or rustling noise made by wind moving through foliage, as through leaves on branches
2. A gentle murmur produced when breezes stir the leaves of trees, heard as a quiet hushing sound
3. The faint sighing rustle of air passing among leaves, a sound that is soothing and natural to hear

Etymology: Psithurism is a whisper, or the rustling sound of leaves and wind, and its roots go back to Ancient Greek. The Greek verb "psithurizō" meant "I whisper," and it was built on the adjective "psithuros," meaning "whispering" and, in some uses, "slanderous." Greek writers formed nouns such as "psithurisma" and "psithurismos" from that verb, and English later adapted one of these as a learned word for the soft sound of whispering. The word therefore keeps two of the Greek senses in one place. Its literal meaning is the faint hiss of speech or rustling, and the slanderous undertone of the adjective is not part of its English usage. Because it is a direct adaptation of Greek rather than a word that came through French or Latin, it reads as a deliberately literary choice.

Synonyms: susurrus, susurration, rustling, rustle