alarum · noun — A danger signal or warning. It carries an Arena rating of 1734, earned across 29 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, alarum ranks #1,036 of 17,181 for Most Ingenious Words, #1,991 of 17,197 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #2,233 of 17,188 for Most Malleable Words, #3,411 of 17,167 for Most Vivid Words.
alarum is pronounced /əˈlɑ.ɹəm/.
Why “alarum” is a great word
A call to arms, a warning signal, or a device that sounds such a warning, now archaic or poetic. From Middle English *alarom*, from Old Italian *all'arme* ("to arms"), from Latin *arma* ("weapons, arms"). Unlike an "alert," a state of readiness for a specific threat, or a "signal," a neutral conveyance of information, an alarum is a summons to violent action, heavy with historic urgency. It is the discordant cry of a trumpet from the battlements, the frantic clatter of a watchman’s rattle in a sleeping town, or the cold, insistent peal of a forgotten bell in a silent tower—a sound that fractures peace, demanding a response that has long since been forgotten how to give.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From Middle English alarom, from Old Italian all'arme (“to arms, to the weapons”), from Latin arma, armorum (“weapons”).
noun
- A danger signal or warning.
- A call to arms.
- An alarm clock.e.g.“Ten minutes passed by the measure of the battered old alarum on the dresser shelf before the young man returned.” — 1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados:
verb
- To sound alarums, to sound an alarm.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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