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  The Learning Kingdom's Cool Word of the Day for September 29, 1999
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                       susurrus [n. soo-SUR-us]

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A soft, indistinct whispering sound might be described as a susurrus.
Example: "The gentle waves made a quiet susurrus among the gravel
cobbles." A word with exactly the same meaning is susurration [n.
soo-suh-RAY-shun].

This is an onomatopoetic word whose sound imitates the sound of what
it describes.  The root was Latin susurrus (whisper), which was also
probably derived from a much older imitative word.

A rather uncommon variant is insusurration [n. in-SOO-suh-RAY-shun]
(whispering in the ear; insinuation).  There are also two adjectives,
susurrant [soo-SUR-unt] and sussurous [soo-SUR-us], both of which
describe a susurrus.

We'd also like to suggest the verb susurrate [SOO-suh-rayt], which is
not listed in any of our dictionaries.

Onomatopoeia is a Cool Word:
http://www.cool-word.com/archive/1998/12/07.html


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