noun · verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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rhymes with -æksən
1
noun
Meaning 1
A loud electric alarm or horn, especially as used in automobiles in the early 20th century.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
verb
Meaning 2
To produce a loud, siren-like wail.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
a kind of loud horn formerly used on motor vehicles
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: claxon
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: horn
History
Etymology
From the trademark Klaxon, based on Ancient Greek κλάζω (klázō, “make a sharp sound; scream”). The word was coined by Franklyn Hallett Lovell Jr., the founder of the Lovell-McConnell Manufacturing Co. of Newark, New Jersey, USA, which in 1908 obtained a licence of the patent to the machine generating the sound from American inventor Miller Reese Hutchison (1876–1944).
Across languages
Translations
45 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
بُوق
(būq)
— loud electric horn or alarm
Arabic:
كْلَاكْسُون
(klāksūn)
— loud electric horn or alarm
Armenian:
շչակ
(ščʻak)
— loud electric horn or alarm
Armenian:
սիգնալ
(signal)
— loud electric horn or alarm
Belarusian:
клаксо́н
(klaksón)
— loud electric horn or alarm
Belarusian:
кла́ксан
(kláksan)
— loud electric horn or alarm
Bulgarian:
кла́ксон
(klákson)
— loud electric horn or alarm
Catalan:
clàxon
— loud electric horn or alarm
Catalan:
botzina
— loud electric horn or alarm
Chinese Mandarin:
喇叭
(lǎba)
— loud electric horn or alarm
Czech:
klakson
— loud electric horn or alarm
Czech:
klaxon
— loud electric horn or alarm
Dutch:
claxon
— loud electric horn or alarm
Esperanto:
aŭtokorno
— loud electric horn or alarm
Finnish:
äänitorvi
— loud electric horn or alarm
French:
klaxon
— loud electric horn or alarm
Galician:
bucina
— loud electric horn or alarm
Galician:
claxon
— loud electric horn or alarm
Georgian:
კლაქსონი
(ḳlaksoni)
— loud electric horn or alarm
German:
Hupe
— loud electric horn or alarm
Greek:
κλάξον
(kláxon)
— loud electric horn or alarm
Hindi:
क्लाक्सोन
(klākson)
— loud electric horn or alarm
Indonesian:
klakson
— loud electric horn or alarm
Japanese:
クラクション
(kurakushon)
— loud electric horn or alarm
Korean:
클락션
(keullaksyeon)
— loud electric horn or alarm
Latvian:
klaksons
— loud electric horn or alarm
Persian:
کلاکسون
(kelâksôn)
— loud electric horn or alarm
Persian:
بوق
(buq)
— loud electric horn or alarm
Polish:
klakson
— loud electric horn or alarm
Portuguese:
klaxon
— loud electric horn or alarm
Portuguese:
cláxon
— loud electric horn or alarm
Romanian:
claxon
— loud electric horn or alarm
Russian:
клаксо́н
(klaksón)
— loud electric horn or alarm
Russian:
кла́ксон
(klákson)
— loud electric horn or alarm
Russian:
гудо́к
(gudók)
— loud electric horn or alarm
Slovak:
klaksón
— loud electric horn or alarm
Spanish:
claxon
— loud electric horn or alarm
Spanish:
bocina
— loud electric horn or alarm
Turkish:
klakson
— loud electric horn or alarm
Turkish:
korna
— loud electric horn or alarm
Ukrainian:
клаксо́н
(klaksón)
— loud electric horn or alarm
Ukrainian:
кла́ксон
(klákson)
— loud electric horn or alarm
Uzbek:
klakson
— loud electric horn or alarm
Vietnamese:
còi
— loud electric horn or alarm
Vietnamese:
còi điện
— loud electric horn or alarm
