English
alarm
Alarm comes from Middle French alarme, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- ‘to fit, to fix, to put together, to slot’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂er-‘to fit, to fix, to put together, to slot’root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600alarme
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500alarme
- Englishearliest quotation 1595alarm
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂er-‘to fit, to fix, to put together, to slot’root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600alarme
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500alarme
- Englishearliest quotation 1595alarm
Earliest quotation: 1595, The Life and Death of King Richard the Second: “Lord Marshal, command our officers-at-arms Be ready to direct…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- ‘to fit, to fix, to put together, to slot’
order, reason, ready, rate, art, article, artist, army, ratio, ordinary, arm, coordination, coordinate, harmony, subordinate, ordination, arthritis, armor, ornament, anarchy, arithmetic, ornate, articulate, inertia, inert, aristocratic, artisan, adorn, ordinate, harmonic, ordinator, harmonious, articulation, rta, armament, rime, ordain, ordinal, ordo, artifice, 80 more
Today it means
noun A summons to arms, as on the approach of an enemy.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- / alarm