rumor

A2 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈɹumɚ/ UK /ˈɹuːmə(ɹ)/ See IPA manual

Freq #4856

Meanings

1

noun
A piece of information that people pass around even though no one knows if it is true.

There's a rumor going around that they are going to get married.
2

verb
To spread an unconfirmed story about someone or something.

He is rumored to be next in line for a promotion.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a piece of information that... gossip hearsay talk

2 verb · to spread an unconfirmed... rumour

More bruit buzz fame moot muttering noise sough tale tidbit whisper whispering word

Word family

Forms rumoredrumoringrumors

Related forms tattle

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

nasty rumor
an unconfirmed story that is spiteful or harmful to someone's reputation

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle English rumour, from Old French rumeur, from Latin rūmor (“common talk”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃rewH- (“to shout, to roar”).

rumour Middle English rumeur Old French rūmor Latin *h₃rewH- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# rumor

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈɹumɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɹuːmə(ɹ)/
**Frequency rank:** 4856

## Meanings
1. A piece of information that people pass around even though no one knows if it is true.
2. To spread an unconfirmed story about someone or something.

## Examples
- There's a rumor going around that they are going to get married.
- He is rumored to be next in line for a promotion.

## Synonyms
- bruit
- buzz
- fame
- moot
- muttering
- noise
- sough
- tale
- tidbit
- whisper
- whispering
- word

## Related Forms
- tattle

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: rumour
- Root: rumeur
- Root: rūmor
- Root: *h₃rewH-

## Etymology
From Middle English rumour, from Old French rumeur, from Latin rūmor (“common talk”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃rewH- (“to shout, to roar”).

## AI Etymology
Rumor comes from Middle English rumour, from Old French rumeur, from Latin rūmor (“common talk”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃rewH- (“to shout, to roar”). Modern senses include a piece of information that people pass around even though no one knows if it is true. and to spread an unconfirmed story about someone or something.. The wider word family includes related forms such as tattle.

## Topics
- People & Society

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