Adjacent Words

Siren definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SIR'EN, n.
1. A mermaid. In ancient mythology, a goddess who enticed men into her power by the charms of music, and devoured them. Hence in modern use, an enticing woman; a female rendered dangerous by her enticements. Sing, siren, to thyself, and I will dote.
2. A species of lizard in Carolina, constituting a peculiar genus, destitute of posterior extremities and pelvis.
SIR'EN, a. Pertaining to a siren, or to the dangerous enticements of music; bewitching; fascinating; as a siren song.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a sea nymph (part woman and part bird) supposed to lure sailors to destruction on the rocks where the nymphs lived; "Odysseus ordered his crew to plug their ears so they would not hear the Siren's fatal song"
2: a woman who is considered to be dangerously seductive [syn: enchantress, temptress, siren, Delilah, femme fatale]
3: a warning signal that is a loud wailing sound
4: an acoustic device producing a loud often wailing sound as a signal or warning
5: eellike aquatic North American salamander with small forelimbs and no hind limbs; have permanent external gills

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French sereine, from Late Latin sirena, from Latin siren, from Greek seir?n Date: 14th century 1. often capitalized any of a group of female and partly human creatures in Greek mythology that lured mariners to destruction by their singing 2. a. a woman who sings with enchanting sweetness b. temptress c. temptation 2 3. a. an apparatus producing musical tones especially in acoustical studies by the rapid interruption of a current of air, steam, or fluid by a perforated rotating disk b. a device often electrically operated for producing a penetrating warning sound <an ambulance siren> <an air-raid siren> 4. [New Latin, from Latin] either of two North American eel-shaped amphibians that constitute a genus (Siren) and have small forelimbs but neither hind legs nor pelvis and have permanent external gills as well as lungs II. adjective Date: 1568 resembling that of a siren ; enticing

Britannica Concise

In Greek mythology, a creature, half bird and half woman, who lures sailors to their doom with her sweet singing. Homer placed sirens near the rocks of Scylla; in the Odyssey, Odysseus has his men plug their ears with wax and has himself tied to his ship's mast in order to hear their singing without endangering the ship. In one tale of Jason and the Argonauts, Orpheus sings so sweetly that the crew do not listen to the sirens. According to later legend, the sirens committed suicide after one or the other of those failures.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a a device for making a loud prolonged signal or warning sound, esp. by revolving a perforated disc over a jet of compressed air or steam. b the sound made by this. 2 (in Greek mythology) each of a number of women or winged creatures whose singing lured unwary sailors on to rocks. 3 a sweet singer. 4 a a dangerously fascinating woman; a temptress. b a tempting pursuit etc. 5 (attrib.) irresistibly tempting. 6 an eel-shaped tailed amphibian of the family Sirenidae. Phrases and idioms: siren suit a one-piece garment for the whole body, easily put on or taken off, orig. for use in air-raid shelters. Etymology: ME f. OF sereine, sirene f. LL Sirena fem. f. L f. Gk Seiren

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Siren Si"ren, a. Of or pertaining to a siren; bewitching, like a siren; fascinating; alluring; as, a siren song.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Siren Si"ren, n. [L., fr. Gr. ???: cf. F. sir[`e]ne.] 1. (Class. Myth.) One of three sea nymphs, -- or, according to some writers, of two, -- said to frequent an island near the coast of Italy, and to sing with such sweetness that they lured mariners to destruction. Next where the sirens dwell you plow the seas; Their song is death, and makes destruction please. --Pope. 2. An enticing, dangerous woman. --Shak. 3. Something which is insidious or deceptive. Consumption is a siren. --W. Irving. 4. A mermaid. [Obs.] --Shak. 5. (Zo["o]l.) Any long, slender amphibian of the genus Siren or family Sirenid[ae], destitute of hind legs and pelvis, and having permanent external gills as well as lungs. They inhabit the swamps, lagoons, and ditches of the Southern United States. The more common species (Siren lacertina) is dull lead-gray in color, and becames two feet long. 6. [F. sir[`e]ne, properly, a siren in sense 1.] (Acoustics) An instrument for producing musical tones and for ascertaining the number of sound waves or vibrations per second which produce a note of a given pitch. The sounds are produced by a perforated rotating disk or disks. A form with two disks operated by steam or highly compressed air is used sounding an alarm to vessels in fog. [Written also sirene, and syren.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(sirens) 1. A siren is a warning device which makes a long, loud noise. Most fire engines, ambulances, and police cars have sirens. It sounds like an air raid siren. N-COUNT: oft supp N 2. Some people refer to a woman as a siren when they think that she is attractive to men but dangerous in some way. (LITERARY) He depicts her as a siren who has drawn him to his ruin. = femme fatale N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Mermaid. 2. [Written also Syren.] Tempter, seducer, Circe, bewitching or fascinating woman. 3. (Zool.) Mud iguana, mud-eel. II. a. Alluring, seducing, tempting, bewitching, fascinating.

Moby Thesaurus

Circe, Davy, Davy Jones, Don Juan, Dylan, Euryale, Gorgon, Jezebel, Klaxon, Lorelei, Mayday, Medea, Medusa, Neptune, Nereid, Nereus, Oceanid, Oceanus, Parthenope, Poseidon, SOS, Siren, Stheno, Thetis, Triton, Varuna, air-raid alarm, alarm, alarm bell, alarm clock, alarm signal, alarum, alert, all clear, alluring, appealing, appetizing, attracting, attractive, beacon, beguiling, beldam, bewitcher, bewitching, bitch-kitty, blandishing, blinking light, boiler factory, boiler room, bull-roarer, burglar alarm, buzzer, cajoling, captivating, catcall, catching, charismatic, charmer, charming, cherry bomb, clack, clacker, clapper, coaxing, come-hither, coquette, coquettish, cracker, cricket, crostarie, drawing, enchanter, enchanting, enchantress, engaging, enravishing, enthralling, enticer, enticing, entrancing, exciting, exotic, fascinating, femme fatale, fetching, fiery cross, fire alarm, fire bell, fire flag, firecracker, five-minute gun, flashing light, flirt, flirtatious, fog bell, fog signal, foghorn, fresh-water nymph, fury, gale warning, glamorous, grimalkin, hag, hellcat, hellhag, hooter, horn, hue and cry, hurricane warning, hypnotic, interesting, intriguing, inveigler, inviting, irresistible, kelpie, lighthouse, limniad, magnetic, man fish, mermaid, merman, mesmeric, mouth-watering, naiad, nix, nixie, noisemaker, note of alarm, occulting light, ocean nymph, piquant, police whistle, prepossessing, provocative, provoquant, rattle, rattlebox, ravishing, sea devil, sea god, sea nymph, sea-maid, sea-maiden, seaman, seducer, seducing, seductive, seductress, she-devil, she-wolf, signal, signal of distress, sirenic, small-craft warning, snapper, sorceress, spellbinder, spellbinding, spellful, steam whistle, still alarm, storm cone, storm flag, storm warning, taking, tantalizing, teaser, teasing, tempter, tempting, temptress, termagant, tickling, ticktack, tigress, titillating, titillative, tocsin, two-minute gun, undine, upside-down flag, vamp, vampire, virago, vixen, wailer, warble, warning, water god, water spirit, water sprite, whistle, whizgig, whizzer, wildcat, winning, winsome, witch, witching