A hubbub is the confused noise of a crowd talking. A great hubbub, the hubbub died down, hubbub in the hall.
It is the sound of many voices with no words distinguishable, which is why it belongs to markets, playgrounds and full restaurants. It also means a fuss about something, as in the hubbub over a decision, and that use is now at least as common.
1nounhubbubThe confused noise of a crowd talking.
“The teacher had to shout to be heard over the hubbub in the classroom.”
hubbub is a noise.
Probably from an Irish cry, taken into English in the sixteenth century as a word for confused shouting.
In early use, the is often mentioned as a cry by Irish people, and so is possibly borrowed from Irish -; compare Irish ababú, abú (“used as a battle cry”), and Scottish Gaelic ub, ubub (“used to express contempt, etc.”), ubh ubh (“used to express disgust”). The is derived from the noun.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA