FROM THE ARCHIVEThursday, October 22, 2026
murmuration
mur-muh-RAY-shun/ˌmɝməˈɹeɪʃən//noun
01 / MEANING
A flock of starlings, especially one moving in shifting, swirling patterns; also, an act of murmuring.
In a sentence.
- 01
At dusk, a murmuration gathered over the fields.
- 02
The murmuration twisted into a dark ribbon above the marsh.
Where it came from.
Murmuration traces to Medieval Latin murmuratio, ‘murmuring.’ The starling-flock sense is probably linked to the sound of a large flock.
Explore the sourceWhy it’s interesting.
It can name both a low sound and the airborne pattern made by hundreds of birds.