Etymologically
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allarme

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Pronunciation

  • /alˈlar.me/[1]

Forms

allarme m (plural allarmi)[1] The cry is written Old Italian all'arme, Old Italian all'armi and Old Italian a l'arme.[2]

Etymology

It comes from the battle cry all'arme!, “to arms!”, a phrase of all' and arme, the old plural of arma (“weapon”), later taken as a single noun meaning “(the signal of) alarm”.[3][4][5][6][1] The Italian word was borrowed as French alarme (1307),[3] and Körting lists Spanish alarma among the words that come from the cry.[7] The French derivatives alarmer and alarmiste in turn gave Italian allarmare and allarmista.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Tristano Riccardiano of the late 13th century, where all'arme is still a cry calling men to take up their weapons or warning of danger.[2] Giovanni Villani (before 1348) has men gridando all'arme all'arme e viva il popolo, “crying to arms, to arms, and long live the people”.[3]

Semantic evolution

Used as a noun, the cry became the call itself: Ariosto (1532) writes of a fierce dar all'arme, a sounding of the alarm.[3] Tommaseo noted that it first stood without the article (gridare allarme) before suonare l'allarme and dare l'allarme became usual.[8] The single-word spelling is recorded in 1723 in Anton Maria Salvini.[3][4][5]

The sense “fear, apprehension” is already in Francesco Redi (before 1698), and falso allarme in Raimondo Montecuccoli (before 1680).[3] D'Annunzio used it in 1916 for any warning of imminent danger.[3] In modern use allarme is also a burglar alarm or a device warning of a fault, and in journalism it stands before a noun naming the danger, as in allarme bomba (bomb scare); allarme rosso (red alert) is a calque of English.[5][6][9]

Timeline

  • Late 13th century – All'arme is recorded in the Tristano Riccardiano.[2]
  • 1307 – French alarme is recorded.[3]
  • Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani writes gridando all'arme.[3]
  • 1532 – Ariosto uses dar all'arme.[3]
  • 1667 – Allarmare is recorded.[3]
  • Before 1680 – Falso allarme is recorded.[3]
  • Before 1698 – Francesco Redi uses the sense “apprehension”.[3]
  • 1723 – Anton Maria Salvini writes allarme as one word.[3][4]
  • 1796 – Allarmista appears in newspapers.[3]
  • 1916 – D'Annunzio uses it for a warning of imminent danger.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A call or signal ordering soldiers to take up arms, or warning civilians of danger: suonare l'allarme.[5][6][10]
  2. A warning of imminent danger, and the time it lasts: Durante l'allarme aereo tutti scesero in cantina.[5][10][11]
  3. An alarm system that signals a break-in or a fault in a machine: Qualcuno ha fatto scattare l'allarme del negozio.[5][6][9]
  4. (journalism) A situation causing public fear, often followed by the noun naming it: allarme siccità.[6][9]
  5. (figurative) fear, apprehension: La notizia mise in allarme tutto il paese.[5][6][11]
  6. (medicine) A set of signs of danger arising inside or outside the body.[5][6]

Interjection

  1. A cry warning of danger or calling to arms: Allarme![5][9]

Word family

  • allarmare
  • allarmismo
  • allarmista
  • allarmistico
  • preallarme
  • teleallarme

Usage notes

Common phrases are falso allarme (false alarm), cessato allarme (all clear), campanello d'allarme (warning sign) and the offence of procurato allarme, raising a false alarm.[5][6][12]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  7. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  8. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  9. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  10. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  11. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli