/nɔɪz/
OriginFrom Middle English noyse, noise, from Old French noise (“a dispute, wrangle, strife, noise”), of uncertain origin. According to some, from Latin nausia, nausea (“disgust, nausea”); according to others, from Latin noxia (“hurt, harm, damage, injury”); but neither explanation is satisfactory in regard to either form or sense. Potentially a reduced form of Old French enoiier (“to bother, to disturb”), from Latin inodio (“to make repulsive”) - which would make it a doublet of English annoy (“to bother, to irritate”) and English ennui (“boredom, jadedness, depression”). Compare Piedmontese nojé (“to bother, to annoy”), though this fails to explain the final /z/.
- uncountableVarious sounds, usually unwanted or unpleasant.
“He knew that it was trash day, when the garbage collectors made all the noise.”
“The heavens turn about in a most rapid motion without noise to us perceived.”
“Charles had not been employed above six months at Darracott Place, but he was not such a whopstraw as to make the least noise in the performance of his duties when his lordship was out of humour.”
- countable, uncountableAny sound.
“The sudden noise made everyone jump.”
“She crept up behind him not making a noise.”
- countable, uncountableSound or signal generated by random fluctuations.
- countable, uncountableAny part of a signal or data that reduces the clarity, precision, or quality of the desired output.
“signal-to-noise ratio”
“On the technical side, the scanning and OCR of texts, in combination with the graphic design of high school text books, introduced a certain level of noise into the corpus which in turn led to a highe”
- countable, uncountableVariation or deviation generated by random fluctuations.
- broadly, countable, figuratively, uncountableUnwanted fuss or bustle; useless activity.
“In order to provide coherence and confidence, the leader must dramatically turn down the noise level in the organization, eliminate any unnecessary distractions that inevitably get in the way of execu”
- countable, uncountableThe measured level of variation in gene expression among cells, regardless of source, within a supposedly identical population.
- countable, uncountableRumour or complaint.
“The problems with the new computer system are causing a lot of noise at Head Office.”
“1709-1710, Thomas Baker, Reflections on Learning
What noise have we had for fome Years about Transplantation of diseases and transfusion of blood!”
“He [Socrates] lived in Athens during the great plague, which has made so much noise through all ages.”
- countable, informal, uncountableSpeech that is suggestive of an attitude or opinion.
“Despite encouraging noises made by politicians from time to time, the two sides there have never been further from an agreement.”
- countable, obsolete, uncountableMusic, in general; a concert; also, a company of musicians; a band.
“The king has his noise of gypsies.”
“That we on earth, with undiscording voice, / May rightly answer that melodious noise”
- countable, uncountableA genre of rock music that uses static and other non-musical sounds, also influenced by art rock.
- intransitiveTo make a noise; to sound.
“Those terrours, which thou speak'st of, did me none ;
I never fear'd they could, though noising loud
And threatening nigh”
- transitiveTo spread news of; to spread as rumor or gossip.
“When this was noysed aboute, the multitude cam togedder and were astonyed, because that every man herde them speake in his awne tongue.”
“This man then meeting with Chriſtian, and having ſome inckling of him, for Chriſtians ſetting forth from the City of Deſtruction was much noiſed abroad, not only in the Town, where he dwelt, but alſo ”
Formsnoises(plural) · noises(present, singular, third-person) · noising(participle, present) · noised(participle, past) · noised(past)