Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Hearsay \Hear"say`\, n.
   Report; rumor; fame; common talk; something heard from
   another.

         Much of the obloquy that has so long rested on the
         memory of our great national poet originated in
         frivolous hearsays of his life and conversation.
                                                  --Prof.
                                                  Wilson.

   {Hearsay evidence} (Law), that species of testimony which
      consists in a a narration by one person of matters told
      him by another. It is, with a few exceptions, inadmissible
      as testimony. --Abbott.

Source : WordNet®

hearsay
     adj : heard through another rather than directly; "hearsay
           information"

hearsay
     n : gossip (usually a mixture of truth and untruth) passed
         around by word of mouth [syn: {rumor}, {rumour}]