siren
pronunciation
How to pronounce siren in British English:
UK [ˈsaɪrən]
How to pronounce siren in American English:
US [ˈsaɪrən]
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- Noun:
- a woman who is considered to be dangerously seductive
- a warning signal that is a loud wailing sound
- an acoustic device producing a loud often wailing sound as a signal or warning
- eel-like aquatic North American salamander with small forelimbs and no hind limbs; have permanent external gills
Word Origin
- siren
- siren: [14] The Seirēnes were sea nymphs who, according to Greek mythology, sat on rocks luring impressionable sailors to their doom with the sweetness of their singing. Latin took the word over as sīrēna, and it passed into English via Old French sereine. The term was applied to an acoustical instrument invented in 1819 by Cagniard de la Tour, that produced musical sounds and was used for measuring the frequency of sound waves, and it was this that formed the basis of its later use (in the 1870s) for a device for giving loud warning signals.
- siren (n.)
- mid-14c., "sea nymph who by her singing lures sailors to their destruction," from Old French sereine (12c., Modern French sirène) and directly from Latin Siren (Late Latin Sirena), from Greek Seiren ["Odyssey," xii.39 ff.], one of the Seirenes, mythical sisters who enticed sailors to their deaths with their songs, also in Greek "a deceitful woman," perhaps literally "binder, entangler," from seira "cord, rope." Meaning "device that makes a warning sound" (on an ambulance, etc.) first recorded 1879, in reference to steamboats, perhaps from similar use of the French word. Figurative sense of "one who sings sweetly and charms" is recorded from 1580s. The classical descriptions of them were mangled in medieval translations and glosses, resulting in odd notions of what they looked like.
Example
- 1. Police have unveiled a pedal-powered patrol car complete with siren and blue flashing light .
- 2. A plaintive siren wails as a government unit , invisible in the darkness , patrols .
- 3. Four years ago , tenants were leaving as if a siren was blasting in the hallway .
- 4. People also picked out some fashion moments that were just inglorious , including unfortunate red carpet appearances by rita wilson , the actress wife of tom hanks , and former screen siren sharon stone .
- 5. Israelis stood silent by their vehicles in jerusalem as a siren sounded across the country for two minutes to commemorate victims of the holocaust .