"murmuration" meaning in All languages combined

See murmuration on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

IPA: /ˌmɝməˈɹeɪʃən/ [General-American], /ˌmɜːməˈɹeɪʃən/ [Received-Pronunciation] Forms: murmurations [plural]
Rhymes: -eɪʃən Etymology: 1350–1400; Medieval Latin murmuratio (“murmuring, grumbling”). The “flock of starlings” sense is probably derived from the sound of the very large groups that starlings form at dusk. Etymology templates: {{bor|en|ML.|murmuratio||murmuring, grumbling}} Medieval Latin murmuratio (“murmuring, grumbling”), {{m-g|flock of starlings}} “flock of starlings” Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} murmuration (countable and uncountable, plural murmurations)
  1. An act or instance of murmuring. Tags: countable, uncountable
    Sense id: en-murmuration-en-noun-Mt5XcUFg
  2. (ornithology, collective) A flock of starlings, in particular when swarming in swirling patterns. Tags: collective, countable, uncountable Translations (flock): murmuration [feminine] (French), мурмура́ция (murmurácija) [feminine] (Russian)
    Sense id: en-murmuration-en-noun-6vuljuXt Categories (other): Ornithology, Starlings Disambiguation of Starlings: 3 62 35 Topics: biology, natural-sciences, ornithology Disambiguation of 'flock': 3 90 6
  3. An emergent order in a multi-agent social system. Tags: countable, uncountable
    Sense id: en-murmuration-en-noun-8nJCGMxN Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with French translations, Terms with Russian translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 8 33 60 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 11 29 60 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 4 31 65 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 4 31 65 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 13 26 61 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 11 27 62

Inflected forms

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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ML.",
        "3": "murmuratio",
        "4": "",
        "5": "murmuring, grumbling"
      },
      "expansion": "Medieval Latin murmuratio (“murmuring, grumbling”)",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "flock of starlings"
      },
      "expansion": "“flock of starlings”",
      "name": "m-g"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "1350–1400; Medieval Latin murmuratio (“murmuring, grumbling”). The “flock of starlings” sense is probably derived from the sound of the very large groups that starlings form at dusk.",
  "forms": [
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      "tags": [
        "plural"
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  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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      "glosses": [
        "An act or instance of murmuring."
      ],
      "id": "en-murmuration-en-noun-Mt5XcUFg",
      "links": [
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          "murmur"
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    {
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          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Ornithology",
          "orig": "en:Ornithology",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "3 62 35",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Starlings",
          "orig": "en:Starlings",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
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          "ref": "1893 September 27, The Bazaar, the Exchange and Mart, London, page 800, column 3:",
          "text": "\"Oh! I wasted most of my morning crawling to a murmuration of starlings, which I foolishly mistook for congregation of plover.\"",
          "type": "quote"
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          "ref": "2013 March 19, Ed Yong, “How the Science of Swarms Can Help Us Fight Cancer and Predict the Future”, in Wired:",
          "text": "The same dynamics can be seen in starlings: On clear winter evenings, murmurations of the tiny blackish birds gather in Rome’s sunset skies, wheeling about like rustling cloth.",
          "type": "quote"
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          "ref": "2017 July 29, “Solved, the riddle of starlings' aerial ballet: Birds use acrobatics to ward off creatures of prey”, in Daily Mail:",
          "text": "Professor Anne Goodenough, an applied ecologist at the University of Gloucestershire who led the research, said: ‘It appears murmuration has become the norm – a general way for the starlings to stay safe from predators.’",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A flock of starlings, in particular when swarming in swirling patterns."
      ],
      "id": "en-murmuration-en-noun-6vuljuXt",
      "links": [
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          "ornithology",
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        [
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        ],
        [
          "swarming",
          "swarming"
        ],
        [
          "swirling",
          "swirling"
        ],
        [
          "patterns",
          "patterns"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(ornithology, collective) A flock of starlings, in particular when swarming in swirling patterns."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "collective",
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "biology",
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      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "3 90 6",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "flock",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "murmuration"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 90 6",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "murmurácija",
          "sense": "flock",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "мурмура́ция"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "8 33 60",
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          "parents": [],
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          "_dis": "11 29 60",
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          "_dis": "11 27 62",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
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      "glosses": [
        "An emergent order in a multi-agent social system."
      ],
      "id": "en-murmuration-en-noun-8nJCGMxN",
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          "emergence"
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      "tags": [
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      ]
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  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌmɝməˈɹeɪʃən/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌmɜːməˈɹeɪʃən/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-eɪʃən"
    }
  ],
  "word": "murmuration"
}
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    "English lemmas",
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    "English terms borrowed from Medieval Latin",
    "English terms derived from Medieval Latin",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/eɪʃən",
    "Rhymes:English/eɪʃən/4 syllables",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
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  "forms": [
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      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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      "glosses": [
        "An act or instance of murmuring."
      ],
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          "murmur"
        ]
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          "type": "quote"
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        "A flock of starlings, in particular when swarming in swirling patterns."
      ],
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        ],
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          "flock",
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        ],
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          "swarming"
        ],
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          "swirling",
          "swirling"
        ],
        [
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          "patterns"
        ]
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(ornithology, collective) A flock of starlings, in particular when swarming in swirling patterns."
      ],
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        "collective",
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "biology",
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    {
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      ],
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          "emergence"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
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      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌmɝməˈɹeɪʃən/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌmɜːməˈɹeɪʃən/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-eɪʃən"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "flock",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "murmuration"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "murmurácija",
      "sense": "flock",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "мурмура́ция"
    }
  ],
  "word": "murmuration"
}

Download raw JSONL data for murmuration meaning in All languages combined (3.6kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-06-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-06-01 using wiktextract (074e7de and f1c2b61). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.