a report: news that is heard and carried from one person to another
The word names the thing that is heard. It comes from the verb "to hear," and it is a piece of spoken word on the move: someone learns of an event, and the account of it passes to the next person. A messenger's word, a traveler's story, a warning that reaches the palace, all of these are this word.
In the narratives it is overwhelmingly bad news. It is the runner's word that a battle is lost, that a king or a son is dead, that an army is on the march, and it lands with dread, making the strong faint and the heart melt. A welcome report is the rare bright exception, as refreshing as cold water to someone thirsty. The same word can also gather around a person, naming their fame or the talk about how they behave.
At its farthest reach the word becomes the message a teacher or prophet gives to be heard and taken in. Its most famous use is the question of Isaiah 53, "Who has believed what we have heard?", which the New Testament later applies to the good news about Jesus.