Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Rumor

Rumor , noun

[French rumeur, Latin rumor; compare rumificare, rumitare to rumor, Sanskrit ru to cry.]

1.
A flying or popular report; the common talk; hence, public fame; notoriety.
This rumor of him went forth throughout all Judea, and throughout all the region round about. — Luke vii. 17
Great is the rumor of this dreadful knight. — Shakespeare
2.
A current story passing from one person to another, without any known authority for its truth; -- in this sense often personified.
Rumor next, and Chance, And Tumult, and Confusion, all embroiled. — Milton
3.
A prolonged, indistinct noise. [Obsolete] — Shakespeare

Rumor , transitive verb

To report by rumor; to tell.
'T was rumored My father 'scaped from out the citadel. — Dryden