WORD OF THE DAY FOR SEPTEMBER 26 2005

clarion • \KLAIR-ee-un\ • adjective : brilliantly clear; also : loud and clear

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?clario01.wav=clarion

Example sentence:Frances issued a clarion call to action, convincingly describing the flaws in the proposed legislation and detailing actions people could take to stop it.


Did you know?In the Middle Ages, "clarion" was a noun, the name for a trumpet that could play a melody in clear, shrill tones. The noun has since been used for the sound of a trumpet or a similar sound. By the early 1800s, English speakers had also started using the word as an adjective for things that ring as clear as the call of a well-played trumpet. Not surprisingly, "clarion" ultimately derives (via the Medieval Latin "clario-") from "clarus," which is the Latin word for "clear." In addition, "clarus" gave English speakers "clarify," "clarity," "declare" ("to make clearly known"), and "clear" itself.