warn.
To make (someone) aware of (something impending); especially:
Meaning & usage
To make (someone) aware of (something impending); especially: To make (someone) aware of impending danger, evil, etc.
We waved a flag to warn the oncoming traffic about the accident.
I phoned to warn him of the road closure.
To make (someone) aware of (something impending); especially: To notify or inform (someone, about something).
I warned him he'd be getting a huge box of birthday presents from me.
To make (someone) aware of (something impending); especially: To summon (someone) to or inform of a formal meeting or duty.
To make (someone) aware of (something impending); especially: To make a sound (e.g. clicking or whirring) indicating that it is about to strike or chime (an hour).
To caution or admonish (someone) against unwise or unacceptable behaviour.
He was warned against crossing the railway tracks at night.
Don't let me catch you running in the corridor again, I warn you.
To advise or order to go or stay away.
A sign warns trespassers off/away from the site.
To give warning.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English warnen, warnien (“to warn; admonish”), from Old English warnian (“to take heed; warn”), from Proto-Germanic *warnōną (“to warn; take heed”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to be aware; give heed”). Cognate with Dutch waarnen (obsolete), German Low German warnen, German warnen, Swedish varna, Icelandic varna.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.