Clarion call

Origin of: Clarion call

Clarion call

A clarion call is a rallying cry or strong request for a course of action and has been used in this sense since the early 19th century. Clarion itself is an obsolete word for a shrill, clear-sounding trumpet first cited from the 1300s, from the Latin clarus meaning clear. Clarionet is the diminutive form, which dates from 1784 and has since taken on the more familiar form of clarinet.