reveille

[ rev-uh-lee; British ri-val-ee ]

noun
  1. a signal, as of a drum or bugle, sounded early in the morning to awaken military personnel and to alert them for assembly.

  2. a signal to arise.

Origin of reveille

1
1635–45; <French réveillez, plural imperative of réveiller to awaken, equivalent to r(e)-re- + éveiller,Old French esveillier ≪ Latin ēvigilāre to watch, be vigilant (ē-e-1 + vigilāre to watch; see vigil)

Words Nearby reveille

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use reveille in a sentence

  • reveille had been sounded rather late, for the troops, wearied with long marching, were to have a day of rest.

  • Alarm guns were fired and the drums beat, not a call to village husbandmen only, but the reveille of humanity.

    Revolutionary Reader | Sophie Lee Foster

British Dictionary definitions for reveille

reveille

/ (rɪˈvælɪ) /


noun
  1. a signal, given by a bugle, drum, etc, to awaken soldiers or sailors in the morning

  2. the hour at which this takes place

Origin of reveille

1
C17: from French réveillez! awake! from re- + Old French esveillier to be wakeful, ultimately from Latin vigilāre to keep watch; see vigil
  • Also called (esp US): rouse

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012