clarion
Part of speech: noun
adj
Morphological type: simple
Topics: entertainment
government
heraldry
hobbies
lifestyle
monarchy
music
nobility
politics
Etymology: The noun is derived from Middle English clarion, clarioun (“trumpet with a narrow tube and a shrill sound, clarion; clarion player”) [and other forms], from Old French claron, clarïon (“clarion”) [and other forms], from Medieval Latin clāriōn, clario, clārōn (“clarion; trumpet”), from Latin clārus (“audible; clear, distinct, loud; (visually) bright, clear”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- (“to call, summon; to cry”).
The adjective is from an attributive use of the noun.
Inflected forms:
form: clarions
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: A medieval brass instrument chiefly used as a battle signal; related to the trumpet, it had a narrow, straight pipe and a high-pitched, piercing sound.
pos: noun
tags: historical
poetic
examples: The clarion’s call to action has been heard.
Then ſtrait commands that at the warlike ſound / Of Trumpets loud and Clarions be upreard / His mighty Standard; […]
And like a silver clarion rung / The accents of that unknown tongue, / Excelsior!
There is no bard in all the choir, / Nor Homer's self, the poet sire, / […] / Nor Collins' verse of tender pain, / Nor Byron's clarion of disdain, / […] / Not one of all can put in verse, / Or to this presence could rehearse, / The sights and voices ravishing / The boy knew on the hills in spring, […]
Blind me, take away mine eyes, and let the darkness utterly fence me in, and still mine ears would catch the tone of thy unforgotten voice, striking more loud against the portals of my sense than can the call of brazen-throated clarions:– […]
gloss: The sound of a clarion (sense 1), or any sound resembling the loud, high-pitched note of a clarion.
pos: noun
tags: broadly
poetic
examples: Others [i.e., other birds] on ground / Walk'd firm; the creſted Cock whoſe clarion ſounds / The ſilent hours, and th' other whoſe gay Traine / Adorns him, colour'd with the Florid hue / Of Rainbows and Starrie Eyes.
And his this Drum, vvhoſe hoarſe heroic baſe / Drovvns the loud Clarion of the braying Aſs.
The cock's ſhrill clarion, or the ecchoing horn, / No more ſhall rouſe them from their lovvly bed.
[K]indling Nations buckle on their mail, / And Fame, with clarion-blast and wings unfurl'd, / To freedom and revenge awakens an injured World!
O chanticleer, / Your clarion blow; the day is near.
gloss: An organ stop consisting of pipes with reeds giving a high-pitched note like that of a clarion (sense 1).
pos: noun
tags: broadly
gloss: The middle register of the clarinet.
pos: noun
tags: broadly
gloss: A charge thought to represent a type of wind instrument, a keyboard instrument like a spinet, or perhaps a rest used by a knight to support a lance during jousting.
pos: noun
gloss: Of a sound, a voice, a message, etc.: brilliantly clear.
pos: adj
tags: not-comparable
examples: her clarion top notes
And loud that clarion voice replied / Excelsior!
Clay Hilley brought vocal heft, clarion sound and stamina to the role, though there were stretches where his voice sounded strained, understandably so, given the demands.
The clarion immediacy of Van Gogh’s painting was echoed by his prose.
Derived words: clarion call
clarionet
clarionetist
clarionettist
Translations: