sirenn.

/ˈsʌɪərən/

Forms: α. Middle English sereyn, serayn, Middle English serayne, 1500s Scottish seryne, syraine. β. Middle English–1600s plural sirenes (Middle English syrenes); 1500s–1600s syrene, 1600s sirene ( syriney). γ. Middle English– siren. δ. Middle English– syren.

Etymology: Ultimately < Greek Σειρήν (plural Σειρῆνες, first mentioned in Odyss. xii. 39 ff.), through Latin Sīrēn and late Latin Sīrēna; the latter is the source of Italian sirena, serena, Spanish sirena, serena, Portuguese sereia, serea, French sirène, and Old French sereine, seraine, whence the earliest forms in English.

†1. An imaginary species of serpent. Obsolete.This sense is derived from glossarial explanations of Latin sirenes in the Vulgate text of Isaiah xiii. 22, where the Wycliffite versions have ‘wengid edderes’ and ‘fliynge serpentis’.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > mythical types of serpent (miscellaneous)

siren1340

dipsas1382

haemorrhoida1398

prestera1398

bloodworm1587

viper1602

dryine1605

dipsad1608

lindworm1814

lingworm1870

rainbow serpent1926

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 61 An eddre þet hatte serayn, þet yernþ more zuyþere þanne hors, and oþerhuyl vleþ [etc.].

1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (Bodl.) xviii. ix In Arabia beþ serpentes wiþ winges, þat beþ icleped Sirene,..and here venym is so stronge þat deþe comeþ tofore þe biting.]

?1527 L. Andrewe tr. Noble Lyfe Bestes sig. tiii^v Ther be also in some places of arabye, serpentis named sirenes that ronne faster than an horse & haue wynges to flye.

2. Classical Mythology. One of several fabulous monsters, part woman, part bird, who were supposed to lure sailors to destruction by their enchanting singing.In early use frequently confused with the mermaid.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > hybrid creature or monster > [noun] > human hybrid > types of

sirenc1366

manticorea1398

mariche1613

birdman1666

bull-man1816

garuda1882

were-jaguar1967

the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > hybrid creature or monster > [noun] > of classical mythology > siren

mermineOE

nicker1340

sirenc1366

α.

c1366 Romaunt Rose 684 Though we mermaydens clepe hem here,..Men clepen hem sereyns in Fraunce.

1481 W. Caxton tr. Myrrour of Worlde ii. ix. 88 They be called seraynes or mermaydens.

1572 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xxxviii. 33 With sangis lyke the seryne our lyfis thow allurit.

β. 1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. II. 369 Þe þre Sirenes, þat were half maydens, half foules, and hadde wynges and clawes.1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 58 Sirenes of a wonder kynde Ben Monstres,..And in the grete Se thei duellen.c1407 J. Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte 1772 Hit passed of force and myght Sirenes song,..Which ar meremaydenes of the se.c1430 J. Lydgate Misericordias 83 Syrenes, with warblys of swetnesse Blente ther resouns.?1527 L. Andrewe tr. Noble Lyfe Bestes sig. tiii^v Syrene, the mermayde is a dedely beste that bringeth a man gladly to dethe.1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. xviij He must..sayle besydes theyr songes as the enticementes or daungerous rockes of the Sirenes.1606 S. Daniel Queenes Arcadia i. i. sig. B1 The fogges and the Syrene offends vs more.1648 H. Hexham Groot Woorden-boeck Een Meer-minne, a Mer-maide, or a Syriney.1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia Isagoge sig. A6^v The fabulous [birds] are, the..harpie, stymphalides, sirenes,..phœnix.1726 D. Defoe Polit. Hist. Devil ii. vii. 310 She talk'd like an Angel, sung like a Syren.γ. c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 13286 When the Sirens this sene,..Þai wyn to the wale ship, & walton all vnder.1598 J. Dickenson Greene in Conceipt 48 They hauing Sirens tongues and Crocodiles teares, thereby entic'd him to intangle him.1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. ii. ii. vi. 115 Voluntary solitarinesse..brings on as a Siren,..or some Sphinx to this irrevocable gulfe.a1682 Sir T. Browne Christian Morals (1716) i. 24 There is no Damocles like unto self opinion, nor any Siren to our own fawning Conceptions.1753 W. Hogarth Anal. Beauty vi. 32 The sphinx and siren have been admired, and accounted elegant in all ages.1776 C. Burney Gen. Hist. Music I. 311 All ancient authors agree in telling us, that Sirens inhabited the coast of Sicily.1831 T. Keightley Mythol. Anc. Greece & Italy 246 Hesiod describes the mead of the Sirens as blooming with flowers.1876 A. S. Murray Mythol. (1877) iii. 38 The Sirens are strictly personifications, not of the sea, but of the dangers of the sea-coast to sailors.δ. c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 13271 I..sailet þurgh a sea þere Syrens were in.1657 H. Pinnell tr. Crollius Philos. Reformed 26 Nimphs, Undens, Melosyns, whose Monsters or bastards are the Syrens that swim upon the water.1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 364/1 This is one of the kinds of Mermaids.., and is the right Syren; two of them, about..1670, was brought dead, to our City of Chester,..where I..drew them.1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued II. i. 120 When Ulysses stopped the ears of his crew with wax on sailing by the Sirens.1820 T. S. Hughes Trav. Sicily I. v. 163 It is of the purest gold, and represents a Syren.1877 Times 17 Feb. 4/4 Projecting from the extreme edges..are, first, 15 birds with human faces—syrens.

3. figurative. One who, or that which, sings sweetly, charms, allures, or deceives, like the Sirens.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > will > motivation > attraction, allurement, or enticement > [noun] > one who or that which

tollerc1440

allurer1556

ticer?c1562

invitera1586

siren1592

solicitor1593

mermaid1595

invitator1603

coy1629

attractor1646

coy-duck1654

lightning rod1859

Pied Piper1869

witcher1928

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > snare, trap, entanglement > [noun] > one who entraps

beswiker1340

catcherc1450

fodea1529

misleader1579

Sinon1581

entrapper1587

siren1592

snarer1597

flycatcher1600

ensnarer1631

decoy1639

decoy-ducka1640

trepan1653

trepanner1659

society > leisure > the arts > music > musician > singer > singer by type of voice > [noun] > sweet singer

nightingale?a1500

siren1592

blackbirda1640

bulbul1848

songbird1874

γ.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) iii. ii. 47 Oh traine me not sweet Mermaide with thy note, To drowne me in..teares: Sing Siren for thy selfe.

1645 J. Milton At Solemn Musick in Poems 22 Blest pair of Sirens,..Sphear-born harmonious Sisters, Voice, and Vers.

1653 H. Binning Serm. (1845) 595 These are Blessed Sirens that..Pipe..some sad and woful ditties of men's sin.

1756 C. Smart tr. Horace Satires ii. iii, in tr. Horace Wks. (1826) II. 109 That guilty Siren, sloth, must be avoided.

a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. iv. 138 Pleasure is..a very Siren, attracting only to devour.

1813 W. Scott Bridal of Triermain iii. xxxii. 182 As round the band of syrens trip, He kissed one damsel's laughing lip.

1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. i. 21 To accept the oft-proffered invitation of these sirens.

1884 Christian World 19 June 453/2 The influence of the sirens of the political boudoir.

δ. 1592 Greenes Groats-worth of Witte sig. B4 Deceiuing Syrens, whose eies are Adamants, whose words are witchcraftes.1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus ii. i. 23 This Queene,..This Syren that will charme Romes Saturnine, And see his shipwracke. a1633 Visct. Falkland Hist. Edward II (1680) 4 This Syren (as some write) came out of Gascoign.1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. i. iv. sig. M5^v Fortune has seldome yet vouchsaf'd to turn Syren to pervert me.1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. III. 260 There are too many instances of intrigues..with these wanton syrens having been revenged with death.1789 H. L. Piozzi Observ. Journey France I. 176 These pretty syrens were delighted to seize upon us.1803 H. K. White Clifton Grove 10 Why, clasp the syren pleasure to his arms.1848 ‘L. Mariotti’ Italy Past & Present I. p. xxv A rosy syren before—Hope,..always receding from its embrace.

†4. A drone bee. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > drone

droneOE

dog-bee1530

humbledory1555

dronel1575

dumble bee?1577

dronet1583

siren1601

cephen1623

1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 318 The Drones at the beginning be termed Sirenes or Cephenes.

1658 J. Rowland tr. T. Moffett Theater of Insects in Topsell's Hist. Four-footed Beasts (rev. ed.) 930 Of the Sirens there are two sorts, the one lesse all of a duskie colour; the other bigger, black mixt with other colours.

5. One or other of the eel-like gradient and tailed amphibians belonging to the family Sirenidæ, native to North America; esp. the mud-iguana, Siren lacertina.So named by Linnæus on account of the statement made to him by Dr. Garden, that it had a sort of singing voice.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > amphibians > order Urodela or Caudata > [noun] > member of family Sirenidae (siren)

siren1791

1766 tr. C. Linnaeus in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 56 192 It must be a new and very distinct genus, and should most properly have the name of Siren.]

1791 G. Shaw Vivarium Naturæ, or Naturalist’s Misc. II. Pl. 61 The genus with which the Siren has evidently the greatest possible affinity, is that of Lacerta or Lizard.

1831 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom IX. 414 The Lacertine Siren (Siren Lacertina).

1854 R. Owen Struct. Skeleton & Teeth in Orr's Circle Sci.: Org. Nature I. 188 In the siren the pelvic arch and limbs are not developed.

1883 Science 2 160/2 This siren will eat crayfish.

6. Anatomy. (See first quot. and cf. sense Compounds 2.)

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > deformity > [noun] > congenital union > of limbs > person

siren1839

1839 Penny Cycl. XV. 347/2 In another family of [human] monsters, denominated Symeles, or Sirens, the two thoracic or abdominal limbs are fused together into a single member.

1902 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 15 Mar. 671 His identification of the Siren with the sympodial fetus..seems exceedingly probable.

a. An acoustical instrument (invented by Cagniard de la Tour in 1819) for producing musical tones and used in numbering the vibrations in any note. Cf. sirene n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > science of sound > vibration > instrument for analysing vibration > [noun]

sonometer1802

siren1822

sirenea1830

opeidoscope1873

flame manometer1875

manometric capsule1879

wave-siren1881

pitch meter1947

1822 Ann. Reg. 1820 (Otridge ed.) ii. Sci. 1364/2 The Syren, a new Acoustical Instrument... In consequence of this property of being sonorous in the water the instrument has been called the Syren.

1870 J. Tyndall Heat (ed. 4) viii. App. 256 I placed a syren within a few feet of the singing flame.

1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 2191/1 It has been ascertained by means of the siren that the wings of the mosquito move at the rate of 15,000 times a second.

1884 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 104/1 The ‘siren’..consists essentially of a circular plate, revolving on an axis through its centre at right angles to its plane.

b. An instrument, made on a similar principle but of a larger size, used on steamships for giving fog-signals, warnings, etc. Also, more generally, a device which produces a piercing note (frequently of varying tone), used as an air-raid warning, or to signify the approach of a police car, etc.; the noise itself. Formerly, a motor-horn.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > indication > signalling > audible signalling > signalling with other sounding instruments > [noun] > hooter or siren

whew1869

hooter1878

siren1879

wave-siren1881

siren alarm1950

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > other equipment of vessel > [noun] > siren

siren1879

sireen1915

1879 J. Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (ed. 6) I. x. 332 He..found that when the syren was sounded no echo was returned.

1880 Daily News 27 Dec. 2/2 The Siren can be sounded with either steam or compressed air, made to pass through a fixed flat disc fitted into the throat of a long trumpet.

1897 R. Kipling Captains Courageous 11 Harvey heard the muffled shriek of a liner's siren.

1907 Public Opinion 17 May 628/2 The attention of the Committee of the Royal Automobile Club has been called to the increase in the use of sirens and exhaust cut-outs by certain motorists.

1917 Flying 25 July 2/2 Tests with various sirens were made in Central London in order to ascertain whether they would be audible.

1940 S. O'Casey Let. 20 Aug. (1975) I. 866 We have a kind of a cellar that we are to go to when the siren sounds.

1943 Times (Weekly ed.) 18 Aug. 12/3 The Luftwaffe helps the Church Army. How?—every night there isn't a siren, a Church Army friend puts sixpence in her box and when there is she puts 2s. 6d. in as soon as the ‘All Clear’ goes.

1963 Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 22 Nov. (1970) 5 We got in [the car]. Lyndon told the agents to stop the sirens.

1969 G. MacBeth War Quartet 43 Then the sirens went, Sucking life underground.

1971 Daily Tel. 22 Oct. (Colour Suppl.) 19/3 Pursued by cops, lights flashing, siren wailing, up Brighton Road.

Compounds

C1.

a. Attributive, in sense ‘characteristic of, resembling that of, a Siren’, as siren air, siren beauty, siren note, etc.

ΚΠ

a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) i. f. 24^v Noble personages,..whom all the Siren songes of Italie, could neuer vntwyne from the maste of Gods word.

1588 ‘M. Marprelate’ Oh read ouer D. Iohn Bridges: Epist. 47 Be not led away by the Syren sounds and intisements of yong Iohn.

1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. i. 353 Whose Syren-notes Inchaunt chaste Susans.

1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets cxix. sig. H^v What potions haue I drunke of Syren teares?

1665 J. Spencer Disc. Vulgar Prophecies 2 Soft and siren words and periods which..make a pretty sound in the ear.

1730 J. Thomson Spring in Seasons 47 Her syren voice, enchanting, draws him on, To guileful shores.

a1743 R. Savage Valentine's Day 19 Far from that shore, where syren-beauty dwells.

1788 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 415 Pleasure with her siren air May delude the thoughtless pair.

1827 J. Keble Christian Year I. xxxiii. 128 Be silent, Praise, Blind guide with siren voice.

1879 F. W. Farrar Life & Work St. Paul II. ix. xliii. 371 The gentle breathing of the south wind..was but a siren song which had lured them to their destruction.

b. Appositive, as siren daughter, siren enemy, siren hag, etc.

ΚΠ

1641 J. Milton Reason Church-govt. 41 The invocation of Dame Memory and her Siren daughters.

a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) II. 76 How silly were their Sages heretofore To fright their Heroes with a Syren-whore?

1742 A. Pope New Dunciad 533 Others, the Syren Sisters compass round, And empty heads console with empty sound.

a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. iv. 163 Then the Siren enemies are busiest about us.

1794 S. T. Coleridge Lines on Friend Vice, siren-hag! in native ugliness.

1836 J. H. Newman et al. Lyra Apost. 51 The craft of Siren choirs.

1871 F. W. Farrar Witness of Hist. ii. 76 When..the music of Memory and her syren daughters has been brought low.

1923 E. Sitwell Bucolic Comedies 90 Where siren-birds sip Bohea.

c. Forming adjectives or adverbs, as siren-haunted, siren-voiced; siren-like.

ΚΠ

a1617 P. Baynes Lectures 235 in Comm. First & Second Chapters Colossians (1634) Siren-like songs.

a1704 T. Brown Libertine in Wks. (1709) IV. i. 27 No more shall your Voice, Syren-like, charm my Heart.

1819 F. D. Hemans Death of Conradin in Tales & Scenes in Verse 244 Bid him guide Thy steps those syren-haunted seas beside.

1879 ‘G. Eliot’ Theophrastus Such ii. 44 The siren-haunted sea.

C2. In sense 6, as siren form, siren formation, siren-like.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > deformity > [noun] > congenital union > of limbs

siren formation1831

phocomelia1837

sympodia1848

symmelia1901

1831 J. F. South tr. A. W. Otto Pathol. Anat. i. 32 The most perfect degree of coalescence in the human subject, the syren formation, in which even the whole of the lower extremities are united into one common limb.

1849–52 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. IV. ii. 964/1 Sympodia or Siren-like form.

1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 764/2 Another curious result of defective separation of symmetrical parts is the siren form of fœtus.

C3. (In sense 7b.)

siren alarm n.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > indication > signalling > audible signalling > signalling with other sounding instruments > [noun] > hooter or siren

whew1869

hooter1878

siren1879

wave-siren1881

siren alarm1950

1950 G. B. Shaw Farfetched Fables ii. 107 He is interrupted by a siren alarm, followed by an artillery salvo.

1976 Ld. Home Way Wind Blows iv. 72 Some time in the early hours of the next morning there was a siren alarm, and we all trooped down to the basement of No. 10.

siren signal n.

ΚΠ

1899 F. T. Bullen Way Navy 70 Making our presence known to one another by siren signals.

siren-trumpet n.

ΚΠ

1879 J. Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (ed. 6) I. x. 332 The aërial echoes heard when standing behind the syren-trumpet at the South Foreland.

C4.

siren suit n. a one-piece costume resembling overalls or a boiler-suit, originally designed for wear by women in air-raid shelters; later, worn by either sex, and as a fashion garment.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > one-piece garment > [noun]

playsuit1609

romper1902

romper suit1904

diving-suit1908

bunting1914

teddy bear1917

leotard1920

Sidcot1921

sleeper1921

romper1922

pressure suit1923

boiler suit1928

maillot1928

mono1937

footy1938

all-in-one1939

siren suit1939

goonskin1943

anti-g suit1945

G-suit1945

jump suit1948

immersion suit1951

moon suit1953

poopy suit1953

dry suit1955

wetsuit1955

sleepsuit1958

Babygro1959

tank suit1959

cat-suit1960

penguin suit1961

unitard1961

bodysuit1963

shortall1966

steamer1982

1939 English Autumn 346 Ladies' dress-shops ambiguously advertise ‘siren suits’ for the Air Raid Shelter.

1942 C. King Diary 17 July in With Malice toward None (1970) 183 The Prime Minister..was in his blue siren-suit.

1959 R. Collier City that wouldn't Die vii. 102 In a minute he [sc. Winston Churchill] came—black silk dressing-gown embroidered with gold pheasants over the baby-blue siren suit he called ‘my rompers’.

1977 Belfast Tel. 19 Jan. 18/7 (advt.) Good reductions in children's coats and fur siren suits.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	siren
释义	sirenn. /ˈsʌɪərən/ Forms: α. Middle English sereyn, serayn, Middle English serayne, 1500s Scottish seryne, syraine. β. Middle English–1600s plural sirenes (Middle English syrenes); 1500s–1600s syrene, 1600s sirene ( syriney). γ. Middle English– siren. δ. Middle English– syren. Etymology: Ultimately < Greek Σειρήν (plural Σειρῆνες, first mentioned in Odyss. xii. 39 ff.), through Latin Sīrēn and late Latin Sīrēna; the latter is the source of Italian sirena, serena, Spanish sirena, serena, Portuguese sereia, serea, French sirène, and Old French sereine, seraine, whence the earliest forms in English. †1. An imaginary species of serpent. Obsolete.This sense is derived from glossarial explanations of Latin sirenes in the Vulgate text of Isaiah xiii. 22, where the Wycliffite versions have ‘wengid edderes’ and ‘fliynge serpentis’. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > mythical types of serpent (miscellaneous) siren1340 dipsas1382 haemorrhoida1398 prestera1398 bloodworm1587 viper1602 dryine1605 dipsad1608 lindworm1814 lingworm1870 rainbow serpent1926 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 61 An eddre þet hatte serayn, þet yernþ more zuyþere þanne hors, and oþerhuyl vleþ [etc.]. 1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (Bodl.) xviii. ix In Arabia beþ serpentes wiþ winges, þat beþ icleped Sirene,..and here venym is so stronge þat deþe comeþ tofore þe biting.] ?1527 L. Andrewe tr. Noble Lyfe Bestes sig. tiii^v Ther be also in some places of arabye, serpentis named sirenes that ronne faster than an horse & haue wynges to flye. 2. Classical Mythology. One of several fabulous monsters, part woman, part bird, who were supposed to lure sailors to destruction by their enchanting singing.In early use frequently confused with the mermaid. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > hybrid creature or monster > [noun] > human hybrid > types of sirenc1366 manticorea1398 mariche1613 birdman1666 bull-man1816 garuda1882 were-jaguar1967 the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > hybrid creature or monster > [noun] > of classical mythology > siren mermineOE nicker1340 sirenc1366 α. c1366 Romaunt Rose 684 Though we mermaydens clepe hem here,..Men clepen hem sereyns in Fraunce. 1481 W. Caxton tr. Myrrour of Worlde ii. ix. 88 They be called seraynes or mermaydens. 1572 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xxxviii. 33 With sangis lyke the seryne our lyfis thow allurit. β. 1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. II. 369 Þe þre Sirenes, þat were half maydens, half foules, and hadde wynges and clawes.1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 58 Sirenes of a wonder kynde Ben Monstres,..And in the grete Se thei duellen.c1407 J. Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte 1772 Hit passed of force and myght Sirenes song,..Which ar meremaydenes of the se.c1430 J. Lydgate Misericordias 83 Syrenes, with warblys of swetnesse Blente ther resouns.?1527 L. Andrewe tr. Noble Lyfe Bestes sig. tiii^v Syrene, the mermayde is a dedely beste that bringeth a man gladly to dethe.1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. xviij He must..sayle besydes theyr songes as the enticementes or daungerous rockes of the Sirenes.1606 S. Daniel Queenes Arcadia i. i. sig. B1 The fogges and the Syrene offends vs more.1648 H. Hexham Groot Woorden-boeck Een Meer-minne, a Mer-maide, or a Syriney.1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia Isagoge sig. A6^v The fabulous [birds] are, the..harpie, stymphalides, sirenes,..phœnix.1726 D. Defoe Polit. Hist. Devil ii. vii. 310 She talk'd like an Angel, sung like a Syren.γ. c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 13286 When the Sirens this sene,..Þai wyn to the wale ship, & walton all vnder.1598 J. Dickenson Greene in Conceipt 48 They hauing Sirens tongues and Crocodiles teares, thereby entic'd him to intangle him.1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. ii. ii. vi. 115 Voluntary solitarinesse..brings on as a Siren,..or some Sphinx to this irrevocable gulfe.a1682 Sir T. Browne Christian Morals (1716) i. 24 There is no Damocles like unto self opinion, nor any Siren to our own fawning Conceptions.1753 W. Hogarth Anal. Beauty vi. 32 The sphinx and siren have been admired, and accounted elegant in all ages.1776 C. Burney Gen. Hist. Music I. 311 All ancient authors agree in telling us, that Sirens inhabited the coast of Sicily.1831 T. Keightley Mythol. Anc. Greece & Italy 246 Hesiod describes the mead of the Sirens as blooming with flowers.1876 A. S. Murray Mythol. (1877) iii. 38 The Sirens are strictly personifications, not of the sea, but of the dangers of the sea-coast to sailors.δ. c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 13271 I..sailet þurgh a sea þere Syrens were in.1657 H. Pinnell tr. Crollius Philos. Reformed 26 Nimphs, Undens, Melosyns, whose Monsters or bastards are the Syrens that swim upon the water.1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 364/1 This is one of the kinds of Mermaids.., and is the right Syren; two of them, about..1670, was brought dead, to our City of Chester,..where I..drew them.1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued II. i. 120 When Ulysses stopped the ears of his crew with wax on sailing by the Sirens.1820 T. S. Hughes Trav. Sicily I. v. 163 It is of the purest gold, and represents a Syren.1877 Times 17 Feb. 4/4 Projecting from the extreme edges..are, first, 15 birds with human faces—syrens. 3. figurative. One who, or that which, sings sweetly, charms, allures, or deceives, like the Sirens. ΘΚΠ the mind > will > motivation > attraction, allurement, or enticement > [noun] > one who or that which tollerc1440 allurer1556 ticer?c1562 invitera1586 siren1592 solicitor1593 mermaid1595 invitator1603 coy1629 attractor1646 coy-duck1654 lightning rod1859 Pied Piper1869 witcher1928 the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > snare, trap, entanglement > [noun] > one who entraps beswiker1340 catcherc1450 fodea1529 misleader1579 Sinon1581 entrapper1587 siren1592 snarer1597 flycatcher1600 ensnarer1631 decoy1639 decoy-ducka1640 trepan1653 trepanner1659 society > leisure > the arts > music > musician > singer > singer by type of voice > [noun] > sweet singer nightingale?a1500 siren1592 blackbirda1640 bulbul1848 songbird1874 γ. a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) iii. ii. 47 Oh traine me not sweet Mermaide with thy note, To drowne me in..teares: Sing Siren for thy selfe. 1645 J. Milton At Solemn Musick in Poems 22 Blest pair of Sirens,..Sphear-born harmonious Sisters, Voice, and Vers. 1653 H. Binning Serm. (1845) 595 These are Blessed Sirens that..Pipe..some sad and woful ditties of men's sin. 1756 C. Smart tr. Horace Satires ii. iii, in tr. Horace Wks. (1826) II. 109 That guilty Siren, sloth, must be avoided. a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. iv. 138 Pleasure is..a very Siren, attracting only to devour. 1813 W. Scott Bridal of Triermain iii. xxxii. 182 As round the band of syrens trip, He kissed one damsel's laughing lip. 1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. i. 21 To accept the oft-proffered invitation of these sirens. 1884 Christian World 19 June 453/2 The influence of the sirens of the political boudoir. δ. 1592 Greenes Groats-worth of Witte sig. B4 Deceiuing Syrens, whose eies are Adamants, whose words are witchcraftes.1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus ii. i. 23 This Queene,..This Syren that will charme Romes Saturnine, And see his shipwracke. View more context for this quotationa1633 Visct. Falkland Hist. Edward II (1680) 4 This Syren (as some write) came out of Gascoign.1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. i. iv. sig. M5^v Fortune has seldome yet vouchsaf'd to turn Syren to pervert me.1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. III. 260 There are too many instances of intrigues..with these wanton syrens having been revenged with death.1789 H. L. Piozzi Observ. Journey France I. 176 These pretty syrens were delighted to seize upon us.1803 H. K. White Clifton Grove 10 Why, clasp the syren pleasure to his arms.1848 ‘L. Mariotti’ Italy Past & Present I. p. xxv A rosy syren before—Hope,..always receding from its embrace. †4. A drone bee. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > drone droneOE dog-bee1530 humbledory1555 dronel1575 dumble bee?1577 dronet1583 siren1601 cephen1623 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 318 The Drones at the beginning be termed Sirenes or Cephenes. 1658 J. Rowland tr. T. Moffett Theater of Insects in Topsell's Hist. Four-footed Beasts (rev. ed.) 930 Of the Sirens there are two sorts, the one lesse all of a duskie colour; the other bigger, black mixt with other colours. 5. One or other of the eel-like gradient and tailed amphibians belonging to the family Sirenidæ, native to North America; esp. the mud-iguana, Siren lacertina.So named by Linnæus on account of the statement made to him by Dr. Garden, that it had a sort of singing voice. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > amphibians > order Urodela or Caudata > [noun] > member of family Sirenidae (siren) siren1791 1766 tr. C. Linnaeus in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 56 192 It must be a new and very distinct genus, and should most properly have the name of Siren.] 1791 G. Shaw Vivarium Naturæ, or Naturalist’s Misc. II. Pl. 61 The genus with which the Siren has evidently the greatest possible affinity, is that of Lacerta or Lizard. 1831 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom IX. 414 The Lacertine Siren (Siren Lacertina). 1854 R. Owen Struct. Skeleton & Teeth in Orr's Circle Sci.: Org. Nature I. 188 In the siren the pelvic arch and limbs are not developed. 1883 Science 2 160/2 This siren will eat crayfish. 6. Anatomy. (See first quot. and cf. sense Compounds 2.) ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > deformity > [noun] > congenital union > of limbs > person siren1839 1839 Penny Cycl. XV. 347/2 In another family of [human] monsters, denominated Symeles, or Sirens, the two thoracic or abdominal limbs are fused together into a single member. 1902 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 15 Mar. 671 His identification of the Siren with the sympodial fetus..seems exceedingly probable. 7. a. An acoustical instrument (invented by Cagniard de la Tour in 1819) for producing musical tones and used in numbering the vibrations in any note. Cf. sirene n. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > science of sound > vibration > instrument for analysing vibration > [noun] sonometer1802 siren1822 sirenea1830 opeidoscope1873 flame manometer1875 manometric capsule1879 wave-siren1881 pitch meter1947 1822 Ann. Reg. 1820 (Otridge ed.) ii. Sci. 1364/2 The Syren, a new Acoustical Instrument... In consequence of this property of being sonorous in the water the instrument has been called the Syren. 1870 J. Tyndall Heat (ed. 4) viii. App. 256 I placed a syren within a few feet of the singing flame. 1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 2191/1 It has been ascertained by means of the siren that the wings of the mosquito move at the rate of 15,000 times a second. 1884 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 104/1 The ‘siren’..consists essentially of a circular plate, revolving on an axis through its centre at right angles to its plane. b. An instrument, made on a similar principle but of a larger size, used on steamships for giving fog-signals, warnings, etc. Also, more generally, a device which produces a piercing note (frequently of varying tone), used as an air-raid warning, or to signify the approach of a police car, etc.; the noise itself. Formerly, a motor-horn. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > signalling > audible signalling > signalling with other sounding instruments > [noun] > hooter or siren whew1869 hooter1878 siren1879 wave-siren1881 siren alarm1950 society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > other equipment of vessel > [noun] > siren siren1879 sireen1915 1879 J. Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (ed. 6) I. x. 332 He..found that when the syren was sounded no echo was returned. 1880 Daily News 27 Dec. 2/2 The Siren can be sounded with either steam or compressed air, made to pass through a fixed flat disc fitted into the throat of a long trumpet. 1897 R. Kipling Captains Courageous 11 Harvey heard the muffled shriek of a liner's siren. 1907 Public Opinion 17 May 628/2 The attention of the Committee of the Royal Automobile Club has been called to the increase in the use of sirens and exhaust cut-outs by certain motorists. 1917 Flying 25 July 2/2 Tests with various sirens were made in Central London in order to ascertain whether they would be audible. 1940 S. O'Casey Let. 20 Aug. (1975) I. 866 We have a kind of a cellar that we are to go to when the siren sounds. 1943 Times (Weekly ed.) 18 Aug. 12/3 The Luftwaffe helps the Church Army. How?—every night there isn't a siren, a Church Army friend puts sixpence in her box and when there is she puts 2s. 6d. in as soon as the ‘All Clear’ goes. 1963 Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 22 Nov. (1970) 5 We got in [the car]. Lyndon told the agents to stop the sirens. 1969 G. MacBeth War Quartet 43 Then the sirens went, Sucking life underground. 1971 Daily Tel. 22 Oct. (Colour Suppl.) 19/3 Pursued by cops, lights flashing, siren wailing, up Brighton Road. Compounds C1. a. Attributive, in sense ‘characteristic of, resembling that of, a Siren’, as siren air, siren beauty, siren note, etc. ΚΠ a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) i. f. 24^v Noble personages,..whom all the Siren songes of Italie, could neuer vntwyne from the maste of Gods word. 1588 ‘M. Marprelate’ Oh read ouer D. Iohn Bridges: Epist. 47 Be not led away by the Syren sounds and intisements of yong Iohn. 1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. i. 353 Whose Syren-notes Inchaunt chaste Susans. 1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets cxix. sig. H^v What potions haue I drunke of Syren teares? View more context for this quotation 1665 J. Spencer Disc. Vulgar Prophecies 2 Soft and siren words and periods which..make a pretty sound in the ear. 1730 J. Thomson Spring in Seasons 47 Her syren voice, enchanting, draws him on, To guileful shores. a1743 R. Savage Valentine's Day 19 Far from that shore, where syren-beauty dwells. 1788 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 415 Pleasure with her siren air May delude the thoughtless pair. 1827 J. Keble Christian Year I. xxxiii. 128 Be silent, Praise, Blind guide with siren voice. 1879 F. W. Farrar Life & Work St. Paul II. ix. xliii. 371 The gentle breathing of the south wind..was but a siren song which had lured them to their destruction. b. Appositive, as siren daughter, siren enemy, siren hag, etc. ΚΠ 1641 J. Milton Reason Church-govt. 41 The invocation of Dame Memory and her Siren daughters. a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) II. 76 How silly were their Sages heretofore To fright their Heroes with a Syren-whore? 1742 A. Pope New Dunciad 533 Others, the Syren Sisters compass round, And empty heads console with empty sound. a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. iv. 163 Then the Siren enemies are busiest about us. 1794 S. T. Coleridge Lines on Friend Vice, siren-hag! in native ugliness. 1836 J. H. Newman et al. Lyra Apost. 51 The craft of Siren choirs. 1871 F. W. Farrar Witness of Hist. ii. 76 When..the music of Memory and her syren daughters has been brought low. 1923 E. Sitwell Bucolic Comedies 90 Where siren-birds sip Bohea. c. Forming adjectives or adverbs, as siren-haunted, siren-voiced; siren-like. ΚΠ a1617 P. Baynes Lectures 235 in Comm. First & Second Chapters Colossians (1634) Siren-like songs. a1704 T. Brown Libertine in Wks. (1709) IV. i. 27 No more shall your Voice, Syren-like, charm my Heart. 1819 F. D. Hemans Death of Conradin in Tales & Scenes in Verse 244 Bid him guide Thy steps those syren-haunted seas beside. 1879 ‘G. Eliot’ Theophrastus Such ii. 44 The siren-haunted sea. C2. In sense 6, as siren form, siren formation, siren-like. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > deformity > [noun] > congenital union > of limbs siren formation1831 phocomelia1837 sympodia1848 symmelia1901 1831 J. F. South tr. A. W. Otto Pathol. Anat. i. 32 The most perfect degree of coalescence in the human subject, the syren formation, in which even the whole of the lower extremities are united into one common limb. 1849–52 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. IV. ii. 964/1 Sympodia or Siren-like form. 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 764/2 Another curious result of defective separation of symmetrical parts is the siren form of fœtus. C3. (In sense 7b.) siren alarm n. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > signalling > audible signalling > signalling with other sounding instruments > [noun] > hooter or siren whew1869 hooter1878 siren1879 wave-siren1881 siren alarm1950 1950 G. B. Shaw Farfetched Fables ii. 107 He is interrupted by a siren alarm, followed by an artillery salvo. 1976 Ld. Home Way Wind Blows iv. 72 Some time in the early hours of the next morning there was a siren alarm, and we all trooped down to the basement of No. 10. siren signal n. ΚΠ 1899 F. T. Bullen Way Navy 70 Making our presence known to one another by siren signals. siren-trumpet n. ΚΠ 1879 J. Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (ed. 6) I. x. 332 The aërial echoes heard when standing behind the syren-trumpet at the South Foreland. C4. siren suit n. a one-piece costume resembling overalls or a boiler-suit, originally designed for wear by women in air-raid shelters; later, worn by either sex, and as a fashion garment. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > one-piece garment > [noun] playsuit1609 romper1902 romper suit1904 diving-suit1908 bunting1914 teddy bear1917 leotard1920 Sidcot1921 sleeper1921 romper1922 pressure suit1923 boiler suit1928 maillot1928 mono1937 footy1938 all-in-one1939 siren suit1939 goonskin1943 anti-g suit1945 G-suit1945 jump suit1948 immersion suit1951 moon suit1953 poopy suit1953 dry suit1955 wetsuit1955 sleepsuit1958 Babygro1959 tank suit1959 cat-suit1960 penguin suit1961 unitard1961 bodysuit1963 shortall1966 steamer1982 1939 English Autumn 346 Ladies' dress-shops ambiguously advertise ‘siren suits’ for the Air Raid Shelter. 1942 C. King Diary 17 July in With Malice toward None (1970) 183 The Prime Minister..was in his blue siren-suit. 1959 R. Collier City that wouldn't Die vii. 102 In a minute he [sc. Winston Churchill] came—black silk dressing-gown embroidered with gold pheasants over the baby-blue siren suit he called ‘my rompers’. 1977 Belfast Tel. 19 Jan. 18/7 (advt.) Good reductions in children's coats and fur siren suits. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online June 2022). sirenv. Forms: Also syren. Etymology: < siren n.Previous versions of the OED give the stress as: ˈsiren. 1. transitive. To allure, entice, persuade. rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > will > motivation > attraction, allurement, or enticement > attract, allure, or entice [verb (transitive)] teec888 tightc1000 drawc1175 tollc1220 till?c1225 ticec1275 bringc1300 entice1303 win1303 wina1340 tempt1340 misdrawa1382 wooa1387 lure1393 trainc1425 allurea1450 attract?a1475 lock1481 enlure1486 attice1490 allect1518 illect?1529 wind1538 disarm1553 call1564 troll1565 embait1567 alliciate1568 slock1594 enamour1600 court1602 inescate1602 fool1620 illure1638 magnetize1658 trepana1661 solicit1665 whistle1665 drill1669 inveigh1670 siren1690 allicit1724 wisea1810 come-hither1954 1690 Secr. Hist. Chas. II & Jas. II 50 The advantageous league which she had pleasantly syren'd her brother to make with the French Monarch. 1935 L. MacNeice Poems 14 Two [women] there are, as I drive in the city... The one sirening me to draw up by the kerb. 1960 T. Stacey Brothers M. xxx. 353 They heard brilliant rippling music like some huge wooden xylophone. With this intricate sound still sirening them they found themselves on a hill top. 2. intransitive. To make signals with the siren. Also (of a police car, etc.), to proceed with siren blaring; to make one's way thus. ΘΚΠ society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > vehicular traffic > [verb (intransitive)] > signal with siren siren1895 society > communication > indication > signalling > audible signalling > signalling with other sounding instruments > sound signal on instrument [verb (intransitive)] > sound hooter or siren as signal hoot1883 siren1895 1895 Westm. Gaz. 2 Feb. 5/1 The statement that ‘it is the custom of the North German Lloyds to run “syrening and flaring” down the North Sea’..was absurd. 1951 R. Bradbury Silver Locusts 50 They slammed the police-wagon door and drove him off into the early morning, his face pressed to the rear window, and just before they sirened over a hill, he saw the red fire..on an ordinary Monday morning on the ordinary planet Earth. 1960 Guardian 21 Oct. 13/4 He was sirening up the Henry Hudson parkway. 1965 D. S. Davis Pale Betrayer xxviii. 206 Fitzgerald sirened his way through the crowd, not leaving the car. 1978 J. I. M. Stewart Full Term viii. 86 An ambulance went wildly sirening into St. Giles'. Derivatives ˈsirening adj. ΘΚΠ society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > vehicular traffic > [adjective] > proceeding with siren (of police car) sirening1940 1940 ‘M. Innes’ Secret Vanguard x. 106 A sirening ambulance or fire-engine. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online December 2020). < n.1340v.1690
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sirenn.

Compounds

sirenv.

Derivatives