murmurate means of starlings, to gather in large flocks at dusk. It carries an Arena rating of 1611, earned across 17 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, murmurate ranks #88 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #1,074 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #1,172 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #1,175 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words.
Why “murmurate” is a great word
To gather in large, coordinated flocks at dusk, as starlings do, producing a dense, undulating aerial display. Derived from the noun 'murmuration,' itself from Medieval Latin murmuratio ('murmuring, grumbling'), which is onomatopoeic in origin. Unlike 'flock' (which names any casual congregation of birds) or 'aggregate' (which suggests a static, undifferentiated mass), murmurate describes a living choreography. It is the sudden darkening of a winter sky as thousands of bodies become one continuous, breathing thing; it is the sound of countless wings creating a single hush, like wind through dry reeds; it is the moment when individual flight dissolves into collective intelligence—a temporary order drawn from the air, a collective exhalation before nightfall.
verb
- Of starlings, to gather in large flocks at dusk.e.g.“By dusk this murmurating cloud can number thousands or even millions of birds.” — 2009, Daniel Butler, The mathematics of murmurating starlings, The Telegraph
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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