klaxon
klax·on/ˈklæksən/noun, verb
klaxon is spelled K-L-A-X-O-N: 6 letters and 2 syllables (klax·on). It appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 86,301st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, klaxon means “A loud electric alarm or horn, especially as used in automobiles in the early 20th century” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of klaxon is klaxons.
How many letters and syllables are in klaxon?
| Letters | 6: K-L-A-X-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: klax·on |
| In writing | about once in every 8 million words; the 86,301st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is klaxon?
Klaxon appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 86,301st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce klaxon?
- US /ˈklæksən/
Klaxon has 2 syllables, split klax·on in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-klaxon.flac, En-au-klaxon.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of klaxon
- klaxons plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- claxon
- klaxoning participle, present
- klaxoned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does klaxon mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A loud electric alarm or horn, especially as used in automobiles in the early 20th century.
verb
- 1
To produce a loud, siren-like wail.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Klaxon in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense loud electric horn or alarm:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does klaxon come from?
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).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).