siren
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
- sirene (dated or archaic)
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English, itself from Middle French sereine (itself from Late Latin sirena) and from Latin Sīrēn, ultimately from Ancient Greek Σειρήν (Seirēn).
Noun[edit]
siren (plural sirens or sirenes)
| Examples | |||
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- (original sense) (Greek mythology) One of a group of nymphs who lured mariners to their death on the rocks.
- A device, either mechanical or electronic, that makes a piercingly loud sound as an alarm or signal, or the sound from such a device.
- A musical instrument, one of the few aerophones in the percussion section of the symphony orchestra.
- A dangerously seductive woman.
- A common name for salamanders of Siren and Sirenidae.
- A common name for mammals of Sirenia.
Translations[edit]
nymph of Greek mythology
device for making a sound alarm
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dangerously seductive woman
Derived terms[edit]
Verb[edit]
siren (third-person singular simple present sirens, present participle sirening, simple past and past participle sirened)
- To make a noise with, or as if with, a siren.
Adjective[edit]
siren
- Relating to or like a siren.
Synonyms[edit]
References[edit]
- Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967
Anagrams[edit]
Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms derived from Late Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with audio links
- en:Greek mythology
- English verbs
- English adjectives
- en:Amphibians
- en:Mythological creatures
