Learn Romanian › sirenă
sirenă
siren /siˈre.nə/
noun#5171 most common
Also: mermaid (folkloric/popular use), factory or ship whistle
Example sentences
Aud o sirenă.
I hear a siren.
Sirena poliției se aude pe stradă.
The police siren can be heard on the street.
Pompierii au pornit sirena mașinii de intervenție.
The firefighters switched on the fire truck's siren.
Sirena de alarmă a sunat brusc în timpul exercițiului de evacuare.
The alarm siren went off suddenly during the evacuation drill.
În legendă, sirena îi ademenea pe marinari cu cântecul ei.
In the legend, the siren lured sailors with her song.
Ulise și-a legat oamenii de catarg ca să nu cadă pradă cântecului fermecător al sirenelor.
Ulysses tied his men to the mast so they would not fall prey to the sirens' enchanting song.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | sirenă | sirene |
| Genitive | sirenei | sirenelor |
| Accusative | sirenă | sirene |
| Vocative | sireno | sirenelor |
Word family
sirenăsiren, mermaid
sirenesirens (plural)
sirenuțălittle mermaid (diminutive)
sirenianrelating to sirenians (manatee order)
Etymology
Romanian borrowed "sirenă" from French "sirène" in the 19th century, during the modernization of Romanian vocabulary. The French word goes back to Latin "siren" and ultimately to Greek "Seirēn", the name of the mythical creatures who lured sailors with their song. The mechanical meaning, a device that emits a warning wail, developed in French and English in the 19th century and passed into Romanian along with the word itself. The origin of the Greek word itself is disputed and not securely traced to an Indo-European root.
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