Sirene

See also: sirene, sirène, and širene

German

Alternative forms

• Syrene
• (lilac): Zirene, Zyrene

Etymology

In the mythological sense from Middle High German sirēne, from Latin Sirēn, in the acoustical sense from French sirène, in the botanical sense confused from Syringe from Latin sȳrinx which was before the introduction of the lilac to Europe in the 16th century the name of the plant now called Pfeifenstrauch (sweet mock orange, Philadelphus coronarius). Dutch sering developed likely simultaneously due to the fact that the plant was sent from Turkey to Germany and the Netherlands at the same time, whereas the Scandinavian words passed from likely Lübeck.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌziˈʁeːnə/
• IPA^(key): /ˌsiˈʁeːnɛ/ (Austria)

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

Sirene f (genitive Sirene, plural Sirenen)

1. siren (noisemaker)
2. siren (mythology)
3. (uncommon) sirenian
4. (obsolete, Central Germany) alternative form of Syringe (“lilac”)

Declension

Declension of Sirene [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Sirene	die	Sirenen
genitive	einer	der	Sirene	der	Sirenen
dative	einer	der	Sirene	den	Sirenen
accusative	eine	die	Sirene	die	Sirenen

Proper noun

Sirene f (proper noun, genitive Sirene)

1. Sirene 1009 (asteroid)

Further reading

• “Sirene” in Duden online
• “Sirene” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Sirene” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.
• Öhmann, Emil (1946) “Wortgeographische Beobachtungen über deutsches Lehngut im Schwedischen”, in Neuphilologische Mitteilungen, volume 47, number 4, →DOI, page 180