alarm

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈlɑːm/ (UK); /əˈlɑɹm/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French alarme,^[2][3][4] from Italian all'arme (“to the arms!”),^{[2][5][3][4][6]} a contraction of alle arme, from a “to” (Latin ad), le (Latin illas) “the”, and arme “weapons”,^[4] from Latin arma (“weapons”).^[2][4] The variant alarum arose from the rolled r in the shouted word.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A call to arms in the face of danger or an enemy (late 14th century; about 1380 in Barnhart).^[4][3][7]

Semantic evolution

The Italian shout “to arms!” came to be used as the name for the call itself.^[4] In the 16th century it was extended to any sound warning of danger or meant to rouse someone, and then to the device that makes it.^[4][7] The sense of sudden fear at danger is from the mid-15th century, and the weaker “apprehension, unease” from 1833.^[4] The verb (1580s) first meant to call to arms.^[4][7] The sense “to fill with apprehension” followed in the 1650s.^[4][7][5] The alarm clock is recorded from the 1690s.^[4]

Timeline

• c1325 – the call to arms (as alarme!).^[7]
• 1393 – as an exclamation, “To arms!”^[7]
• 1592 – a warning sound of any kind.^[7]
• c1590 – verb, to call to arms.^[7][3]
• 1651 – verb, to disturb or excite.^[5][7]
• 1653 – verb, to strike with fear.^[7]
• 1690s – alarm clock.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Sudden fear caused by awareness of danger.
2. A warning of danger, or a signal that calls for attention.
3. A device that warns of danger or wakes a sleeper with a sound or light.
4. (archaic) A call to arms.

Verb

1. To frighten or fill with anxiety.
2. To warn of danger.
3. To fit with an alarm.

Word family

• alarmingly
• alarmable
• alarming

Related words

• alarmism
• alarmist
• alarm clock
• alarm reaction
• false alarm
• fire alarm
• burglar alarm
• silent alarm
• still alarm
• alarum
• alert
• arms
• tocsin

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press