klaxon

/ˈklæksən/

Etymology

From the trademark Klaxon, based on Ancient Greek κλάζω (klázō, “make a sharp sound; scream”). The word was coined by Franklyn Hallett Lovell Jr., the founder of the Lovell-McConnell Manufacturing Co. of Newark, New Jersey, USA, which in 1908 obtained a licence of the patent to the machine generating the sound from American inventor Miller Reese Hutchison (1876–1944).

klaxon means A loud electric alarm or horn, especially as used in automobiles in the early 20th century. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 85 out of 100.

noun

A loud electric alarm or horn, especially as used in automobiles in the early 20th century.“And she went so swiftly that he could only follow her to the door. The large shape of the car swallowed her up; and the car twisted softly around the little drive and away to the London road. Minutes later he heard its Klaxon, just one sharp keen, like the harsh cry of a sea-bird. …”

verb

To produce a loud, siren-like wail.“He headed down the Embankment. It was noon precisely. Big Ben klaxoned the hour with blasts of servo whistle.”