susurration
noun

- a whisper, a murmur, esp. of noise produced by numerous individual sources of sound (bees humming, leaves rustling etc).

The National Library of Scotland

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WORD ORIGIN

The wonderfully onomatopoeic noun "susurration" entered English in the Middle English period from the Latin susurratio, which comes from the verb susurrare, an imitative word likely derived from the Proto-Indo-European root swer-, meaning "to buzz or whisper".

In modern usage, we use the word to name a gentle sound characterised by a soft murmuring, persistent whispering, rustling, or even a barely audible buzzing.

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WHY IS YOUR CAR MAKING FUNNY NOISES?

With near-silent battery power, carmakers are giving electric-vehicle owners (and anyone within earshot) an alternative set of sounds to enliven their journey.

The Abarth 500e, Fiat’s electric version of its popular small car, was launched last year with a speaker in its bumper to imitate the roar of a petrol engine. Hyundai’s hot-hatch EV, the Ioniq 5 N, likely to go on sale this year, goes one better. As well as broadcasting car noises, it can also screech like a fighter jet and, for added driver feedback, will jolt slightly between fake gear changes.

Even if petrolheads are mollified by these features, some of us will be grateful that these options will come with a volume and off-switch.

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SOUND WORDS

babble, bark, beat, bellow, blare, blast, bleep, blip, blurt, boom, bong, bray, buzz, cackle, caterwaul, caw, chant, cheep, chime, chirp, chitter, chittering, chitter-chatter, chirrup, chuckle, clack, clang, clap, clash, click, clink, cluck, crackle, creak, croak, crow, crunch, cry, ding, dong, fanfare, gabble, grate, grind, groan, growl, grumble, grunt, honk, howl, hum, jangle, jingle, knell, lilt, meow, moan, murmur, mutter, neigh, pant, peal, peep, pitch, plaint, plonk, purr, quaver, rasp, rattle, roar, rumble, rustle, scream, screech, shout, shriek, sigh, sizzle, snap, snarl, snore, snort, snuffle, squall, squawk, squeak, squeal, strain, strum, SUSURRATION, swish, thrum, thunder, thwack, tinkle, tone, toot, tootle, trill, trumpet, twang, twit, twitter, ululation, wail, warble, wheeze, whimper, whine, whir, whisper, whistle, whizz, woof, whoop, whoosh, yap, yawp, yell, yelp

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a sentence, say something like:

“May I read you a lovely line from Ambrose Bierce’s ‘Beyond The Wall’, written over a century ago in 1907? ... 'The rain was now falling more steadily, with a low, monotonous SUSURRATION, interrupted at long intervals by the sudden slashing of the boughs of trees as the wind rose and failed’. “

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