Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Siren

Siren

10 9.9
A long water salamander with gills outside its body and no back legs
  • noun
  • /ˈsaɪrən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : sirénido
  • The siren is an aquatic salamander known for its long body and external gills.
  • Siren wailing
  • Siren Song
  • Siren call

Examples

  • The scientist studied the siren's unique features, such as its lack of hind limbs.

  • At the marsh, we spotted a siren swimming slowly through the water.

  • "I don't think it is necessary to invoke climate change to explain the spread of the fungus among my cloud forest siren in Central America.

    Academic text (2007)

  • The Siren and the Whale are two marine deities so closely linked that they are always worshipped together and celebrated in the same songs.

    Academic text (1996)

  • A piercing quiet holds my words, holds them like the aftermath of a siren's wail.

    Fiction book (2002)

Compounds

siren call
3 7.8

A tempting offer that may harm or trick you

siren song
2 8.3

A tempting offer that seems good but leads to trouble

Surface Forms

siren singular
sirens plural

Etymology

Siren comes from the Greek Siren, a sea creature famous for its 'song' that lured sailors. A helpful way to remember the modern meaning is to think of the long, water‑dwelling salamander as a strange sea 'siren', so the name points to its life in the water.