siren

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a device that produces a loud, rising and falling sound as a warning, or the sound it makes

   An air-raid siren sounded across the city shortly after midnight.

2. 2
   noun

   in Greek mythology, a creature whose enchanting song lured sailors to destruction

   In the myth, each Siren tries to draw the ship toward the rocks.

3. 3
   noun

   literary, often dated: a dangerously attractive or seductive woman

   The novel portrays the singer as a siren who captivates everyone around her.

4. 4
   noun

   an eel-shaped aquatic salamander with small forelimbs and no hind limbs

   The greater siren inhabits shallow wetlands in the southeastern United States.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Siren comes from the Sirens of classical mythology, bird-women whose beautiful singing lured sailors to destruction. In 1819 the name was applied to Charles Cagniard de la Tour’s instrument for producing musical tones, and later in the 19th century it was transferred to loud warning devices used on ships and elsewhere.

From Middle English siren, via Old French and Latin Siren from Greek Seiren, the mythic singer who lured sailors. The warning-device sense arose from the instrument's piercing sound; zoologists later applied the name to several aquatic animals.

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary