▪ I. rumour, n.
(ˈruːmə(r))
Also α. 5 rumur, rom-, revmour, rwmor, rumore, 5–6 rumoure (6 -ure), 5–8, 9– (chiefly U.S.) rumor. β. 5 rumber, romber. γ. 5 rymour.
[a. OF. rumur, rumour, rumor (mod.F. rumeur), and rimur, = Prov. rumor, rimor, Sp. and Pg. rumor, It. rumore, romore, rimore:—L. rūmōr-em, acc. of rūmor noise, din, etc. From OF. are also MDu. and Du. rumoer, MLG., MHG., and G. rumor.]
1. † a. A (wide-spread) report of a favourable or laudatory nature. Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. pr. vii. (1868) 59 Ȝe men certys ne konne don no þing aryȝt, but ȝif it be for þe audience of poeple, and for ydel rumours. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 37 Þere God for hym wrouȝte meny myracles and grete... By þat rumour sche þat slouȝ him was i-meoved. |
b. Talk or report of a person or thing in some way noted or distinguished. Now arch.
| c 1440 York Myst. xxvi. 34 Thurgh his romour in þis reme Hath raysede mekill reke. 1526 Tindale Luke vii. 17 Thys rumor off hym went forthe throughout all Jewry. 1535 Coverdale 1 Macc. iii. 26 All the Heithen..were afrayed for Iudas and his brethren: so y{supt} the rumoure of him came vnto the kynges eares. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, ii. iii. 7 Great is the rumour of this dreadfull Knight, And his atchieuements of no lesse account. |
| 1853 M. Arnold Sohrab & Rustum 60 Dim is the rumour of a common fight, Where host meets host, and many names are sunk: But of a single combat Fame speaks clear. |
† c. The fact of being generally talked about; reputation, renown. Obs.
| 1637 Milton Lycidas 80 Fame..Nor in the glistering foil Set off to th' world, nor in broad rumour lies. |
2. a. General talk, report, or hearsay, not based upon definite knowledge. Also phr. rumour has it.
| 1382 Wyclif 2 Macc. v. 5 When fals rumour, or tithing, wente out, as Antiochus hadde gon out of lijf, Jason sodeynly assailide the citee. 1579–80 North Plutarch (1595) 94 Thus brought he common rumor to taber on his head. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, Ind. 15 Rumour is a Pipe Blowne by Surmises, Ielousies, Coniectures. 1610 Heywood Gold. Age i. i, To stop all rumour that may fil the world. c 1640 Rowley Birth of Merlin i. i, The court 's all filled with rumour, the city with news, and the country with wonder. 1750 Gray Long Story 73 So Rumor says. (Who will, believe.) 1781 Cowper Expost. 357 His stamm'ring tongue With doleful rumour and sad presage hung. 1819 Shelley Cenci i. iii. 16 You seem..Too sprightly and companionable a man, To act the deeds that rumour pins on you. 1852 Tennyson Ode Wellington 181 Who let the turbid streams of rumour flow Thro' either babbling world of high and low. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1875) III. 160 The mysterious power of rumour which seems to travel faster than any post. 1912 J. N. McIlwraith Diana of Quebec xviii. 276 Rumour had it they were engaged. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 190 Mr. Russell, rumour has it, is gathering together a sheaf of our younger poets' verses. 1957 D. Robins Noble One xi. 111 Rumour has it that when Brett went off on his trip, he was asked to give the pretty Juliet a lift..and they've neither of them come back. 1961 B. N. Cardozo in Webster s.v., We make our blunders..as rumour has it that you make your own. |
b. Personified.
| 1595 Shakes. John iv. ii. 123 This from Rumors tongue I idely heard. 1630 Dekker 2nd Pt. Honest Wh. Wks. 1873 II. 154 'Gainst me swolne Rumor hoisted euery saile. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 965 Rumor next and Chance, And Tumult and Confusion all imbroild. 1736 Gentl. Mag. VI. 613/1 If the gossip, Rumour, truth declares. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. i. ii. i, It is thus everywhere that foolish Rumour babbles not of what was done, but of what was misdone or undone. |
c. Const. of (the thing spoken about).
| 1622 Withers Philarete (1633) 592 Where never came Report of Pan,..Nor rumor of the Muses, till of late. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 3 Oh for a lodge in some vast wilderness,..Where rumour of oppression and deceit..Might never reach me more. 1847 Tennyson Princ. v. 108 Inward raced the scouts With rumour of Prince Arac hard at hand. 1855 Prescott Philip II, ii. xii. I. 280 The preparations..had not been conducted so secretly but that some rumor of them had taken wind. |
3. a. A statement or report circulating in a community, of the truth of which there is no clear evidence. Comb., as rumour-factory, rumour-mill, rumour-monger, rumour-mongering, etc.; rumour-ridden adj.
| c 1400 Mandeville (1839) v. 52 Alle the comoun rymour and speche is of alle the peple there,..that thei ben the Garneres of Joseph. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 167 He is a foole that yevithe also credence To newe rumours and every foltisshe fable. 1533 More Debell. Salem ii. Wks. 936/1 So a rumour ones begonne and spread abrode, is not after soone remoued. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Ep. 18 Why you ought not to haue beleeued such rumors, I wil say something. 1607 Shakes. Timon v. i. 4 Does the Rumor hold for true, That hee's so full of Gold? 1661 Bramhall Just Vind. 285 This not by uncertain rumours, but by the Acts and Instruments themselves. 1705 Prideaux Lett. (Camden) 197 A rumour hath been here for some time that you have of late been under some trouble. 1759 Robertson Hist. Scot. iv. I. 303 The authors of these rumours did not confine their attention to Bothwell alone. 1832 Lytton E. Aram i. ix, False rumours often beget truths. 1877 Froude Short Stud. (1883) IV. i. xi. 129 Rumours flew abroad that miracles had already begun. |
| Comb. 1647 Hexham i, A rumour spreader. 1736 Ainsworth Eng.-Lat. Dict., A rumour-bearer. 1884 Sat. Rev. 7 June 731/2 The rumourmongers have seen what Mr. Gladstone had not seen. 1933 Dylan Thomas Let. 11 Nov. (1966) 63 Every country in this rumour-ridden world..is branded like Cain across the forehead. 1935 Rumour-monger [see non-Aryan n.]. 1953 in P. C. Berg Dict. New Words 138/2 A sincere and humble apology printed by the paper in response to charges of rumour-mongering. 1953 J. Masters Lotus & Wind vi. 76 He must come quickly for her sake—and for his own, to confront the rumourmongers and force them to eat their vile words. 1967 Economist 25 Mar. 1131/3 One decree, so far unused, imposing fierce penalties for rumour-mongering and another providing for custody without trial. 1973 New Journalist (Australia) July–Aug. 2/3 If there's any truth at all in what's been processed through the industry rumour mills, the..journalists..might well be coming from the Sydney production lines. 1977 Private Eye 1 Apr. 18/3 The peculiar recent gyrations in the shares..may owe as much to the ambitious designs of certain mysterious figures..as to the myriad stories poured out by the well-primed City rumour factory. 1977 China Now July/Aug. 18/2 In rebellion against the People's Government, one of the..Grand Lamas went on a rumour-mongering rampage. 1979 Time 8 Jan. 28/1 Communications in Iran are unreliable, with the result that the country has become a vast rumor mill. 1979 Railway Age Nov. 34/1 Rumormongers have ranged from the Des Moines Register, the major newspaper of a major ICG state, to a federal official. |
b. Const. of.
| 1525 Abp. Warham in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. I. 374 The first rumor and brute of this matier. 1557 N. T. (Genev.) Matt. xxiv. 6 Ye shal heare of warres, & of the rumors of warres. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 181 The Citie..upon the least rumour of building them, armeth their Gallies to burne the same. 1665 Temple Let. to Ld. Arlington Wks. 1720 II. 6 Twenty Rumours more we have of his Successes, but I will not yet credit them. 1769 Burke Corr. (1844) I. 217 Many rumours of war here; but I know not well how they are founded. 1840 Thirlwall Hist. Greece lvi. VII. 153 It is probable that the rumour of his approach reached Athens at least some days before him. 1853 C. Brontë Villette xxxviii, Rumours of wars there had been, if not wars themselves. |
† 4. Loud expression or manifestation of disapproval or protest. Obs.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 2668 Þe pepull made noise, Myche Rumur & rud speche at his red sonne. c 1440 Generydes 1377 To eschew the Rumber and the crye, his purpose..he chaungyd. a 1513 Fabyan Chron. v. (1811) 87 Amonge y⊇ Knyghtys of Sygebert was spronge a great rumoure, saying that they were not contente. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 430, I may not staye him for the rumour of the people. |
5. Clamour, outcry; noise, din. Now arch.
| c 1440 Alph. Tales 65 With a grete rumor & a cry he come vnto the pope, & bad hym giff hym his xij d agayn. 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 15 [He] made suche a noyse and rumour, that lantfert cam out hastely. 1525 Ld. Berners Froissart II. xxvii. 32 He wolde make suche a noyse and rumoure, as though all the deuylles of helle had ben in his chambre. 1581 Styward Mart. Discipl. ii. 134 It is sometimes requisite that thy battailes goe forwardes with rumours and showtings. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. xix. 79 From whose vast beechy banks a rumor straight resounds. 1747 Gentl. Mag. 208/2 A very particular quality is observable in this creature, of listening to any noise or rumour in the street. 1786 tr. Beckford's Vathek 82 The rumour every instant increased. 1851 Longfellow Gold. Leg., Nativity v, Here a great rumour of trumpets and horses. 1885 R. L. & F. Stevenson Dynamiter 97 The rumour of the wind among the garden trees. 1889 W. B. Yeats Let. 3 Feb. (1954) i. 110 They always long for rest and to get away from the noise and rumour of the world. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 388 His heart shook within the cage of his breast as he tasted the rumour of that storm. 1927 F. B. Young Portrait of Clare 624 Her ears became aware of an unusual sound. At first she thought it was only the wind-swept rumour of one of the great munition trains. a 1973 J. R. R. Tolkien Silmarillion (1977) iii. 52 But many refused the summons, preferring the starlight and the wide spaces of Middle-earth to the rumour of the Trees. |
† 6. Uproar, tumult, disturbance. Obs.
| 1462 Paston Lett. II. 82 Swyche talkynge comyth of false schrewys that wold mak a rwmor in this contre. 1483 Cely Papers (Camden) 132 Ther ys grett romber in the reme. 1503 Act 19 Hen. VII, c. 5 Great Rumour and Variance daily increaseth among his Subjects for taking and refusing of the same [coin]. 1541 Barnes Wks. (1573) 219/2 Wee must geue ouer this matter for the uniuersitie is in a rumour. 1581 Lambarde Eiren. ii. v. (1588) 184 Assemblies agaynst the law..are therfore also somtimes called Rumors. 1639 S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 130 The bawling woman began to raise a rumour about her gate by the complaints which she made unto her neighbours. |
▪ II. rumour, v.
(ˈruːmə(r))
Also 6, 9– U.S. rumor.
[f. the n.]
1. intr. † a. To resound with disapproval. Obs.
| 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 136 Than regnyde avoutry and lechurie in hym and his howse-maynage, that al the roialme thanne rumourt and lothit for that rousty Synne. |
b. To invent or circulate rumours.
| 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xi. ix. (1862) IV. 146 Diplomatic shadows fencing, Gazetteer shadows rumouring. |
2. a. trans. To circulate by way of rumour.
| 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, iv. ii. 51 Come hither Catesby, rumor it abroad, That Anne my Wife is very grieuous sicke. 1597 ― 2 Hen. IV, Ind. 33 This haue I rumour'd through the peasant-Townes. 1612 Brerewood Lang. & Relig. 86 Unskilful men may rumour what they will. 1649 Roberts Clavis Bibl. 556 By the chiefe Author thereof, the Lord, rumouring it. 1735 Bolingbroke Study Hist. iv. (1777) 96 Those wretched Christians who returned from those wars..rumoured these stories about the West. 1773–83 Hoole Orl. Fur. xxix. 40 Various tales are rumour'd of his fate. |
b. In passive with dependent clause.
| 1607 Shakes. Cor. i. ii. 11 It is rumour'd..These three leade on this Preparation Whether 'tis bent. 1671 Milton Samson 1600 All abroad was rumour'd that this day Samson should be brought forth. 1831 Mackintosh Hist. Eng. II. 73 It had been industriously rumoured..that Richard duke of York had escaped from the assassins. 1863 Longfellow Wayside Inn i. Prol. 203 It was rumoured he could say The Parables of Sandabar. |
c. With personal object and complement.
| 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. i, See you streight rumour me dead. 1833–6 H. Coleridge Northern Worthies (1852) I. 64 He [Blood] was rumoured..to be a creature of Buckingham. 1849 M. Arnold Strayed Reveller 109 Art thou not he, whom fame This long time rumours The favour'd guest of Circe? |
d. To force through rumour into (an action, etc.). rare.
| 1925 F. Scott Fitzgerald Great Gatsby i. 25, I had no intention of being rumored into marriage. |
3. a. To transmit with a murmuring sound.
| 1887 Hall Caine Deemster xxxix, Hearing voices of men or the sound of laughter rumoured over the quiet waters. |
b. intr. To make a murmuring noise.
| 1900 Blackw. Mag. Oct. 474/2 The lullaby aid of the sea that rumoured light and soothingly round the rock of Doom. |
Hence ˈrumouring vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| c 1563 Jack Juggler in Hazl. Dodsley II. 128 Yea, dost thou make a rumouring yet again? 1824 Symmons Agamemnon 4 Swifter than noisy fame of rumouring tongues. 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. iv. vi. (1872) I. 444 Such a marching and rumouring going on all round him. 1895 W. Watson Father of Forest 4 Mourned not the rumouring winds? 1957 T. Hughes Hawk in Rain 54 You hear..through all The leafy valley a rumouring of air go. |