alarm, alarum, alar me, alar me

[Sw. & Dut. alarm; Dan, allarm, clarm; Ger. lärm, lärmen = noise, bustle, uproar, alarm; Wel. alarm Fr. alar me; Sp. alama; Ital. allarme, all ' arme, from alle = to the; arme, arm a = arms. When the O. Eng. form alar me is compared with the Ital. all ' arme, it is seen, as has been done by Richardson, Wedgwood, and others, that the English word is from the Italian, and means "To arms." (See the ex. from Holland's Livy.) The spelling alarum evidently arises from a vocalisation of the sound.] A. Ordinary Language : I. Objectively: IMG:content-0326.png:[merged small][ocr errors] 2. Such a summons given in some other way than literally by the use of the words "To arms." [B. 1.] ( Spec .) Warning of danger given by the trumpet. because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war." -Jer. v. 19. Hence arise such expre ions as "to blow an aların," or "to sound an alarm," the former rare, the latter common. "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain."- Joel ii. 1. A false alarm. [B. 1.] 3. A warning of dangers, not connected with wars. "No powdered pest, proficient in the art Of sounding an alarm , a aults these doors Till the street rings; no stationary steeds." Cowper: Task, bk. iv. 4. Any tumult or disturbance. "Crowds of rivals for thy mother's charms Thy palace fill with insults and alarms ." Pope: Homer's Ody ey. II. Subjectively: Fear, especially mingled with surprise; sudden and deep apprehension of approaching peril. "The city is now filled with alarm at the near approach of the redoubtable enemy."-Lewis: Early Rom. Hist ., ch. xii., pt. ii, § 22. B. Technically: 1. Mil .: The sound of a trumpet or other signal used in time of war, summoning soldiers to their posts to meet a threatened danger which has suddenly arisen. A false alarm is an alarm given by order of a military commander, either to prevent the enemy from obtaining needed repose, or to try the vigilance of his own sentinels. "One historian even describes the stratagem of the false alarm at the games as intended, not to furnish a pretext for the war, but to overcome the reluctance and inertne of the Volscians,"- Lewis : Early Rom . Hist . (1855), ch. xii., pt. ii., § 23. 2. Mech. A contrivance designed to enable one to awake at a particular hour, or to be used for some similar purpose. It is to this signification that the spelling alarum has become especially attached. [ALARM-CLOCK, ALARM-WATCH.] 8. Fencing: An appeal or challenge.