I ran across a webcomic some time ago that was called "Today Nothing Happened", and as that sums up my week, really (the only unusual event that occurred was a co-worker/assistant going on vacation the last few days of the week, leaving me manning two desks), I decided to do some research on the etymology of a mostly-unused word. My sister, who's a linguist (also one of the below-mentioned nerdy grammar fans), suggested a rather fun site (if you're into words, anyway) called etymonline.com.
Susurrus:
Definition (Oxford Dictionaries): Whispering, murmuring, or rustling
Pronunciation: soo-ceres
Pre-early 1800s, the word was actually referring a medical condition, similar to tinnitus. The modern definition is actually late middle english. The word itself is actually straight from Latin, which simply meant 'whisper'.
Susurration, a form of the same word, can be pinned down to about 1400 AD. The Latin word it originates from is susurrationem, which (for you very nerdy grammar peeps out there) is the past participle stem of susurrare, meaning to hum or murmer.
Next Saturday is April 1, when I'll be beginning the Camp Nanowrimo challenge. :)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment