Other forms: tumults
A tumult is a loud confused uproar. Many voices at once and nobody in charge.
It describes crowds and noise, so a tumult of voices or the tumult outside the gates. There is an inner sense too, since emotional tumult means feelings in complete disorder, and that use is common in writing about grief and upheaval. The adjective tumultuous is commoner than the noun and is used for applause, which is a rare positive use of a word about chaos.
1nountumultA loud confused noise or disturbance.
“There was a tumult in the corridor outside.”
Proto-Indo-European
*tewh₂-
Latin
tumultus — noise, tumult
Old French
tumulte
English, today
tumult
From Old French tumulte, from Latin tumultus (“noise, tumult”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA