Etymologically
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alarm

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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
  • 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