A sudden, sharp jolt of fear on sensing a danger close at hand.
A sudden, sharp jolt of fear on sensing a danger close at hand; in weakened use, serious concern.
Defined by suddenness and a clear external trigger — a spike of fear at a perceived threat, not a sustained or anticipatory state, which separates it from slow-building apprehension, anxiety, worry, and foreboding, and from hesitant trepidation. Less overwhelming than panic (which adds frantic, unreasoning behavior) or terror (the extreme), and without the startle-shock of fright. Note a softened modern sense — “growing alarm,” “sound the alarm” — shading toward serious concern.
Sudden, sharp fear at the perception of imminent danger; also weakened to serious concern.
The emotional sense dates to the mid-15c.; the weakened “apprehension / concern” sense to 1833.
A warning signal, or the device that produces it (as in alarm clock).
From Italian all'arme! “to arms!”; the warning-cry, then warning-device senses (alarm clock, 1690s) followed.
Late 14c. “a call to arms,” from Old French alarme, from Italian all'arme “to arms!” (a “to” + arma “weapons”). The interjection became the word for the warning cry, then any warning sound or device; the “fearful surprise” sense is from the mid-15c.
A clear trajectory: military call-to-arms → the warning cry → any warning sound → the signaling device (and alarm clock) → the emotion of fearful surprise (mid-15c.) → a further weakened “apprehension / concern” sense (1833), common in journalistic “express alarm” usage. No recent-generation shift is sourced.