Advertisement
whisper (v.)
Old English hwisprian "speak very softly, murmur" (only in a Northumbrian gloss for Latin murmurare), from Proto-Germanic *hwis- (source also of Middle Dutch wispelen, Old High German hwispalon, German wispeln, wispern, Old Norse hviskra "to whisper"), from PIE *kwei- "to hiss, whistle," imitative. Transitive sense is from 1560s. Related: Whispered; whispering. An alternative verb, now obsolete, was whister (late 14c., from Old English hwæstrian), and Middle English had whistringe grucchere "a slanderer."
whisper (n.)
1590s, from whisper (v.).
Advertisement
Advertisement
Definitions of whisper
Dictionary entries near whisper
whirlwind
whisk
whisker
whiskey
whisky
whisper
whispering
whist
whistle
whistleblower
whistler