sough

See also: Sough

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English *sough, swough, swogh, from Middle English swoȝen, swowen, from Old English swōgan (“to make a sound; move with noise; rush; roar”), from Proto-West Germanic *swōgan, from Proto-Germanic *swōganą from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weh₂gʰ-, same source as Latin vāgiō and likely English echo (via Ancient Greek). Cognate with Scots souch (“sough”), Icelandic súgur (“a rushing sound, rustle”). Noun replaced Middle English swei, sweȝ from Old English swēg. More at swoon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saʊ/, /sʌf/

• Audio:

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• Audio:

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• Rhymes: -aʊ, -ʌf
• Homophone: sow (noun, with /aʊ/)

Verb

sough (third-person singular simple present soughs, present participle soughing, simple past and past participle soughed)

1. To make a soft rustling or murmuring sound.
   • 1963, Sterling North, Rascal, Avon Books, page 101:

     I lay awake for a while that evening, listening to the soughing of the wind high in the pines, realizing sadly that we must now return to civilization.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:sough

Translations

to make this sound

• Bulgarian: шумоля (bg) (šumolja)
• Czech: šustit impf, šumět (cs) impf, syčet (cs) impf, ševelit (cs) impf
• Finnish: havista, kahista (fi)
• Italian: stormire (it)
• Maori: tihi, tihitihi

Noun

sough (plural soughs)

1. A murmuring sound; rushing, rustling, or whistling sound.
   • 1829, John Carne, Stratton Hill: A Tale of the Civil Wars, volume 1, page 131:

     [...] Arthur; a fearful night it was: there was a sough in the air, a sound drawing nigh like that of a host marching:- — but you're looking pale and forwrought, man; is any thing ailing ye?

   • 1838, William Howitt, The Rural Life of England:

     The whispering leaves or solemn sough of the forest.

   • 2015, N. K. Jemisin, chapter 16, in The Fifth Season:

     Syenite hears the distant sough of waves rolling against rocks, somewhere below the slope on which they lie.

2. A gentle breeze; a waft; a breath.
3. A (deep) sigh.
4. (Scotland, obsolete) A vague rumour.
5. (Scotland, obsolete) A cant or whining mode of speaking, especially in preaching or praying.

Derived terms

• death-sough

Related terms

• swow

Translations

sound

• Bulgarian: шумолене (bg) n (šumolene)
• Czech: ševelení n, šumění n, šumot m
• Finnish: havina, kahina (fi)
• French: murmure (fr) m
• Russian: ше́лест (ru) m (šélest)

gentle breeze

• Bulgarian: бриз m (briz)
• Finnish: tuulenhenkäys (fi)

deep sigh

• Bulgarian: дълбока въздишка f (dǎlboka vǎzdiška)
• Finnish: syvä huokaus

See also

• susurrus

Etymology 2

From Middle English sough (whence also Scots sheuch (“ditch”)), from Old English *sōh, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *sīk (“watercourse”); compare dialectal Dutch zoeg (“ditch”), and English sitch.

Noun

sough (plural soughs)

1. A small drain; an adit.

Descendants

• → Irish: seoch
  • → English: sheugh

Verb

sough (third-person singular simple present soughs, present participle soughing, simple past and past participle soughed)

1. To drain.

Derived terms

• soughing-tile

Anagrams

• Hugos