Whispering

How to spell whispering

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce whispering

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does whispering mean?

1. verbSpeaking very softly, using the breath rather than full voice so that only those nearby can hear.
2. nounThe continuous soft sound of people speaking under their breath, or a similar gentle rustling noise.

Whispering in a sentence

• verb

  The two colleagues kept whispering during the long presentation.

• noun

  A constant whispering filled the library and distracted the students.

• verb

  She was whispering to her daughter so the baby would not wake.

• noun

  The whispering of the wind through the reeds carried across the lake.

Where does whispering come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word grows from the verb 'whisper', which comes from Old English 'hwisprian', meaning to speak very softly under the breath. That early form belongs to a group of Germanic words that imitate a hushing, breathy sound, related to Old High German 'hwispalon' and Old Norse 'hviskra', all built on a root that suggests a soft hissing noise. The spelling has carried the old 'hw' cluster, which once matched a breathy pronunciation but later settled into the modern 'wh', the same silent-feeling opening seen in 'whistle' and 'wheeze'. The '-ing' ending was added in the ordinary English way to form the present participle and the gerund, turning the action into something continuous or naming the act itself. The persistence of that initial 'wh', where the 'h' is no longer clearly heard in most accents, is the main spelling trap in the modern word.

How the word is built

• whisper (to speak very softly)
• -ing (present participle / gerund suffix)