# clarion

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈklæ.ɹɪ.ən/ · frequency rank #31,918

## Definitions
1. A medieval brass instrument chiefly used as a battle signal; related to the trumpet, it had a narrow, straight pipe and a high-pitched, piercing sound.
2. The sound of a clarion (sense 1), or any sound resembling the loud, high-pitched note of a clarion.
3. An organ stop consisting of pipes with reeds giving a high-pitched note like that of a clarion (sense 1).
4. The middle register of the clarinet.
5. A charge thought to represent a type of wind instrument, a keyboard instrument like a spinet, or perhaps a rest used by a knight to support a lance during jousting.

## Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English clarion, clarioun (“trumpet with a narrow tube and a shrill sound, clarion; clarion player”) [and other forms], from Old French claron, clarïon (“clarion”) [and other forms], from Medieval Latin clāriōn, clario, clārōn (“clarion; trumpet”), from Latin clārus (“audible; clear, distinct, loud; (visually) bright, clear”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- (“to call, summon; to cry”).
The adjective is from an attributive use of the noun.

## Easily confused with
- **clarity** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clarion-vs-clarity)
- **Clayton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clarion-vs-clayton)
- **Clarkson** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clarion-vs-clarkson)
- **caron** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caron-vs-clarion)
- **carbon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/carbon-vs-clarion)
- **Carson** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/carson-vs-clarion)
- **carton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/carton-vs-clarion)
- **cation** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cation-vs-clarion)
- **clarify** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clarify-vs-clarion)
- **chariot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chariot-vs-clarion)
- **Clapton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clapton-vs-clarion)
- **carrion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/carrion-vs-clarion)
- **Clarice** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clarice-vs-clarion)

## Common misspellings (10)
`calrion`, `cclarion`, `clairon`, `clarino`, `clarionn`, `claroin`, `clarrion`, `cllarion`, `clraion`, `lcarion`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/clarion