different between tocsin vs alarm

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French, from Old French toquesain (modern tocsin), from Old Occitan tocasenh, from tocar (“strike, touch”) + senh (“bell”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?t?ks?n/
• Rhymes: -?ks?n
• Homophone: toxin

Noun

tocsin (plural tocsins)

1. An alarm or other signal sounded by a bell or bells, originally especially with reference to France.
   • 1804, The Times, 23 Aug 1804, p.3 col. C

     At half-past one, on the sounding of the tocsin (or bell of the public-house) about fifteen persons were collected, when the Rev. J. Bromley was called to the chair.

   • 1970, JG Ballard, The Atrocity Exhibition:

     As she entered the projection theatre the soundtrack reverberated across the sculpture garden, a melancholy tocsin modulated by Talbert’s less and less coherent commentary.

   • 1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial 2007, p. 281:

     I'll ring the tocsin, I'll have Saint-Antoine out. I can put twenty thousand armed men on the streets, just like that.

2. A bell used to sound an alarm.

Translations

See also

• Tocsin in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• Costin, sintoc, tonics

French

Etymology

From Old French toquesain, borrowed from Old Occitan tocasenh, from tocar (“strike, touch”) + senh (“bell”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t?k.s??/

Noun

tocsin m (plural tocsins)

1. an alarm, a tocsin

Further reading

• “tocsin” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• citons, tonics

Romanian

Etymology

From French tocsin.

Noun

tocsin n (plural tocsine)

1. tocsin

Declension

English

Alternative forms

• alarum

Etymology

From Middle English alarme, alarom, borrowed from Middle French alarme, itself from Old Italian all'arme! (“to arms!, to the weapons!”), ultimately from Latin arma (“arms, weapons”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??l??m/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??l??m/
• Hyphenation: alarm
• Rhymes: -??(?)m

Noun

alarm (countable and uncountable, plural alarms)

1. A summons to arms, as on the approach of an enemy.
2. Any sound or information intended to give notice of approaching danger; a warning sound to arouse attention; a warning of danger.

   • Sound an alarm in my holy mountain.
3. A sudden attack; disturbance.
4. Sudden surprise with fear or terror excited by apprehension of danger; in the military use, commonly, sudden apprehension of being attacked by surprise.
5. A mechanical device for awaking people, or rousing their attention.

6. An instance of an alarm ringing, beeping or clanging, to give a noise signal at a certain time.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• tocsin

Verb

alarm (third-person singular simple present alarms, present participle alarming, simple past and past participle alarmed)

(Can we add an example for this sense?)

1. (transitive) To call to arms for defense
2. (transitive) To give (someone) notice of approaching danger
3. (transitive) To rouse to vigilance and action; to put on the alert.
4. (transitive) To surprise with apprehension of danger; to fill with anxiety in regard to threatening evil; to excite with sudden fear.
5. (transitive) To keep in excitement; to disturb.

Derived terms

Translations

References

• alarm in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• LRAAM, Lamar, Marla, malar, marla, ramal

Albanian

Etymology

From French alarme (“alarm”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ala?m/

Noun

alárm m (indefinite plural alárme, definite singular alármi, definite plural alármet)

1. (army) alarm

   Synonym: kushtrim

2. (figuratively) anxiety

   Synonym: shqetësim

Declension

Derived terms

• alarmim m (gerund)
• alarmoj (active)
• alarmohem (passive)
• alarmonjës
• alarmuar (participle)
• alarmues m
• alarmuese f

Further reading

• Oda Buchholz, Wilfried Fiedler, Gerda Uhlisch (2000) Langenscheidt Handwörterbuch Albanisch, Langenscheidt Verlag, ?ISBN, page 32 (noun alárm/alarm)
• [1] m. noun alárm/alarm (engl. alarm) • Fjalor Shqip (Albanian Dictionary)

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?alarm]

Noun

alarm m

1. alarm

Related terms

• alarmismus
• alarmista
• alarmistický
• alarmní

Further reading

• alarm in P?íru?ní slovník jazyka ?eského, 1935–1957
• alarm in Slovník spisovného jazyka ?eského, 1960–1971, 1989
• alarm in Akademický slovník cizích slov, 1995, at prirucka.ujc.cas.cz

Dutch

Etymology

Ultimately from Italian all' arme (“to arms”), allarme; cf. also French alarme. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a??l?rm/
• Hyphenation: alarm
• Rhymes: -?rm

Noun

alarm n (plural alarmen, diminutive alarmpje n)

1. alarm

Derived terms

Related terms

• alarmeren

Anagrams

• Almar

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Italian all' arme (“to arms”) and allarme, via French alarme

Noun

alarm m (definite singular alarmen, indefinite plural alarmer, definite plural alarmene)

1. an alarm

Derived terms

References

• “alarm” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Italian all' arme (“to arms”) and allarme, via French alarme

Noun

alarm m (definite singular alarmen, indefinite plural alarmar, definite plural alarmane)

1. an alarm

Derived terms

References

• “alarm” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Etymology

From French alarme, from Italian all'arme (“to arms”). Cf. French alarme.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?a.larm/

Noun

alarm m inan

1. alarm
2. The state of being alerted

Declension

Derived terms

References

Further reading

• alarm in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From French alarme.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?larm/
• Hyphenation: a?larm

Noun

àlarm m (Cyrillic spelling ??????)

1. alarm

Declension

Derived terms

References

• “alarm” in Hrvatski jezi?ni portal