alarm

the word "alarm" entered english in the late 14th century from the old french phrase "à l'arme," meaning "to arms!" or "to the weapon!" it was a call to arms, warning soldiers of an attack. the phrase was a contraction of the italian "all'arme," with the same meaning. the italian term combined the preposition "a" (to) with "arme" (arms, weapons), which itself descended from latin "arma" (tools, implements of war). over time, the literal battle cry broadened semantically. it first came to denote any sudden call to action, then the device that gives such a warning, and finally the feeling of startled fear that such a warning provokes, completing its journey from an external shout to an internal state of anxiety.

this word is a simplex form derived from a complete phrase. it is not productively segmented into smaller, meaningful morphemes in modern english.