siren

Definitions

• (Greek mythology) One of a group of nymphs who lured mariners to their death on the rocks.
• One who sings sweetly and charms.
• A dangerously seductive woman.
• (biology) A member of an order of mammals of Sirenia (first attested in French in Dominique Bouhours, Les entretiens d'Ariste et d'Eugène, 1671).
• (biology) A member of a genus of aquatic salamanders of the family Sirenidae (originally introduced by Linnaeus, 1766, for a genus of his reptiles), commonly used for all species subsumed under the family of Sirenidae.
• (entomology) Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus .
• A device, either mechanical or electronic, that makes a piercingly loud sound as an alarm or signal, or the sound from such a device (first recorded 1879).
• (music) A musical instrument, one of the few aerophones in the percussion section of the symphony orchestra (patented as Acme Siren in 1895).
• An instrument for demonstrating the laws of beats and combination tones.
• (astronomy) An astrophysical event that can be used for calculating cosmic distances.