bruit

Noun (1)

bruit (countable and uncountable, plural bruits)

1. (archaic, uncountable) Hearsay, rumour; talk; (countable) an instance of this.
   • [R]ememberyng yoʳ accustumable proudent demeanoʳ as well in the atteyning assurid knowledge of the intended purpose of the Scotts, from tyme to tyme, by suche good esp'iell and intelligence that ye have had among the said Scotts, as of the bruits and newes occ'rant amongs them, it is the more...a. 1531, John Galt, quoting Thomas Wolsey, “[Appendix. Book III.] No. V. The Copie of My Lord Cardinall’s L’res, Sent to the Lord Dacre of the Northe.”, in The Life and Administration of Cardinal...
   • Brother, we will proclaime you out of hand, / The bruit thereof will bring you many friends.c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
2. (countable, obsolete) A clamour, an outcry; a noise.
   • There is no healing of thy bruiſe: thy wound is grieuous: all that heare the bruit of thee, ſhall clap the hands ouer thee: for vpon whom hath not thy wickedneſſe paſſed continually?1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Nahum 3:19, column 2
   • [S]ome fresh bruit / Startled me all aheap!—and soon I saw / The horridest shape that ever raised my awe,— [...]1827, Thomas Hood, “The Plea of the Midsummer Fairies”, in The Plea of the Midsummer Fairies, Hero and Leander, Lycus the Centaur, and Other Poems, Philadelphia, Pa.: E[liakim] Littell, […], and J....

Verb

bruit (third-person singular simple present bruits, present participle bruiting, simple past and past participle bruited)

1. (archaic, transitive, current in the US) To disseminate, promulgate, or spread news, a rumour, etc.
   • And if it be to be beleued, as bruted is by fame. / A day did paſſe without the Sunne.1567, Ovid, “The Seconde Booke”, in Arthur Golding, transl., The XV. Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, Entytuled Metamorphosis, […], London: […] Willyam Seres […], →OCLC, folio 20, recto
   • Generally, Whether there be [...] any that stubbornly refuse to conform themselves to unity and good religion: any that bruiteth abroad rumours of the alteration of the same, or otherwise that disturbeth good orders, and the quietnes of Christs Church and Christian congregation.a. 1576, Matthew Parker, John Strype, “[An Appendix to Archbishop Parker’s Life.] Number XI. Articles for the Dioceses, to be Inquired of in the Archbishop’s Metropolitical Visitation.”, in The Life...

Noun (2)

UK/ˈbɹuːi/US/ˈbɹui/

bruit (plural bruits)

1. An abnormal sound in the body heard on auscultation (for example, through using a stethoscope); a murmur.
   • Gentlemen,—At the close of my last lecture I asserted that the bruit of the heart does not reside in the organ itself, that is to say, is not produced by any mechanism in the interior of the heart, or by a concurrence of circumstances independent of the surrounding organs. I showed you this clearly...1835 February 14, F[rançois] Magendie, “Physiology. Lectures on the Physical Conditions of the Tissues of the Body, as Applied to the Explanation of the Vital Phenomena. […] Lecture XVIII.”, in...
   • Besides chlorosis, there are several analogous affections, especially such as proceed from large losses of blood, in which the arterial bruits are generally very distinctly perceptible. In all these cases the existence of the bruits coincides with a more than ordinary fulness of the pulse: when...1838 October 1, “Researches on the Cause of the Abnormal Auscultatory Sounds in the Large Arteries, &c. By M. Beau.”, in James Johnson, Henry James Johnson, editors, The Medico-chirurgical Review...