brouhaha
English
WOTD – 19 February 2011
Etymology
Borrowed from French brouhaha, but disputed as to where from before that. Possibly from Hebrew בָּרוּךְ הַבָּא (barúkh habá, “welcome”, literally “blessed is he who comes”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈbɹuː.hɑː.hɑː/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file)
Noun
brouhaha (plural brouhahas)
Translations
fuss, uproar
French
Etymology
Disputed. Possibly from an onomatopoeic assimilation from Hebrew בָּרוּךְ הַבָּא (barúkh habá, “welcome”, literally “blessed is he who comes”)
In regards to the semantic evolution to "noisy meeting" compare with ramdam, sabbat
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bʁu.a.a/
Audio (FR) (file) Audio (file)
Noun
brouhaha m (plural brouhahas)
- brouhaha
- 1865, Jules Verne, De la Terre à la Lune:
- Un brouhaha, une tempête d’exclamations accueillit ces paroles.
- A brouhaha, a gale of exclamations welcomed those words.
- Un brouhaha, une tempête d’exclamations accueillit ces paroles.
- 1865, Jules Verne, De la Terre à la Lune:
References
- “brouhaha” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
- “Brouhaha” in Michael Quinion, Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, 2004, →ISBN.
Further reading
- “brouhaha” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
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