tocsin

[tok-sin]

noun

1. a signal, especially of alarm, sounded on a bell or bells.

2. a bell used to sound an alarm.

tocsin

/ ˈtɒksɪn /

noun

1. an alarm or warning signal, esp one sounded on a bell

2. an alarm bell

Word History and Origins

Origin of tocsin¹

First recorded in 1580–90; from Middle French, from Provençal tocasenh, literally, “(it) strikes (the) bell,” equivalent to toca, 3rd-person singular present of tocar “to strike, touch ” + senh “bell, sign ”

Word History and Origins

Origin of tocsin¹

C16: from French, from Old French toquassen, from Old Provençal tocasenh, from tocar to _touch + senh bell, from Latin signum

Example Sentences

Still, few poems are more famous than “The Raven” with its dolorous tocsin, “Nevermore.”

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All over Europe and the United States, political scientists were sounding the tocsin for any balanced, values-based politics.

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We have grabbed onto that great tocsin of American freedom and will not surrender it -- even if too many millions of white Americans have discarded it for cheaply made "MAGA" hats.

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It blazed deep red for a moment and then dwindled into a patch of gray smoke, but it was a signal as clear as a tocsin in the night.

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These statistics should prompt all rationalists to sound the proverbial tocsin with unrelenting fury.

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