rumour
UK[ˈruːmə]US[ˈruːmɚ]
n
Information or a story that is passed from person to person but has not been proven to be true.
Etymology
The word 'rumour' entered English in the late Middle English period via Anglo-Norman French rumur, from Old French rumor, noise, fame. This, in turn, derives from Latin rumor, meaning 'common talk' or 'noise'. The Latin term is believed to originate from the Proto-Indo-European root reuə-, meaning 'to roar' or 'to make a noise', which also gave rise to words like 'rout' and 'riot'. The semantic journey from a literal 'roar' or 'noise' to the abstract concept of unverified information circulating among people elegantly captures the noisy, pervasive, and often disruptive nature of gossip.
Analysis
The word 'rumour' is a simplex loanword from Anglo-Norman French. It does not contain separable, meaningful morphemes within its modern English spelling.
Examples
A rumour is going around the office that the manager is leaving.
She dismissed the story as nothing more than a malicious rumour.
Rumours of a merger caused the company's stock price to fluctuate wildly.