Psithurisma

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A soft whispering or rustling sound, such as that made by wind moving through leaves or grass
2. The faint murmur of foliage stirred by a breeze, heard as a gentle hushed sound
3. A quiet rustling noise produced when wind passes through trees or dry vegetation

Etymology: The word names a soft, rustling whisper, the sort made by leaves or by people speaking in hushed tones, and it reaches English straight from ancient Greek. Its ancestor, "psithúrisma," is built on the verb "psithurízō," meaning "I whisper," which in turn comes from "psíthuros," an adjective meaning "whispering" that also carried the sense of "slanderous." That darker shade is a useful reminder that Greek whispering was often furtive, the sort of talk that passes behind someone's back. English took the word as a learned adaptation of the Greek, so it sits comfortably among other scholarly borrowings of classical sounds. The form given here, "psithurisma," is the older, obsolete spelling of the modern "psithurism," which is the version most dictionaries now list.

Synonyms: rustling