What does alarum mean?
'Alarum' is the older English form of what we now simply call an alarm: a loud, urgent signal warning of danger, most often a call to arms in the face of attack. The word entered English from the Italian battle cry 'all'arme' — 'to arms!' — and was common from the sixteenth century onward, appearing throughout Shakespeare and his contemporaries both in dialogue and as a stage direction, where 'alarums' indicated the trumpets, drums, and clash of weapons accompanying an offstage battle. Famously, the phrase 'alarums and excursions' became the standard Elizabethan shorthand for chaotic combat. Today the word survives almost entirely in literary, historical, and theatrical registers, prized for its martial, old-fashioned resonance. Writers reach for it when they want a warning that sounds period-appropriate or dramatic rather than modern and mechanical. Its plural is 'alarums', and it should not be confused with the everyday modern noun 'alarm', which covers everything from smoke detectors to clock radios.
nounA loud call or signal warning of danger, especially a call to arms; now chiefly an archaic or literary variant of 'alarm'. In Elizabethan drama, it also served as a stage direction for the sound of trumpets, drums, or offstage fighting.
- An archaic or literary form of 'alarm': a loud warning call or signal of danger, especially a call to arms.
- In Elizabethan and Jacobean stage directions, a sound cue of trumpets, drums, or clashing weapons signaling battle.
"The sentry sounded the alarum the moment enemy sails appeared on the horizon."
"The watchman raised the alarum as flames spread through the eastern wing."
"Enter soldiers, with drums and alarums — so reads the stage direction before the play's climactic battle."
The plural 'alarums' appears frequently in Shakespeare's stage directions, notably in the fixed phrase 'alarums and excursions'.
"The chronicle records the alarums that echoed across the city that night."
Shakespeare's battle scenes are full of 'alarums' — and the phrase 'alarums and excursions' is literally his stage direction for chaotic offstage fighting.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of alarum
'Alarum' originated as an English alteration of 'alarm', which itself came from the Old Italian cry 'all'arme' — literally 'to arms!' — a summons to take up weapons in the face of danger. The variant spelling and shifted stress arose in Middle English and early Modern English, partly by metathesis (a swapping of the 'l' and 'r' sounds). It was firmly established in English by the sixteenth century, when it appeared constantly in the drama of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, both as dialogue and as the stage direction 'alarum' for battle noises. As 'alarm' became the standard modern form, 'alarum' receded into literary and historical usage.
Related word forms
How alarum is actually used
'Alarum' is deliberately archaic in modern use, appearing mainly in historical fiction, poetry, and editions of Renaissance drama. It carries an old-world, martial flavor that plain 'alarm' lacks.
Easily confused with alarum
'Alarm' is the standard modern word for a warning signal or device, while 'alarum' is its older, literary spelling and pronunciation, now used mainly in historical or theatrical contexts.