Ascry

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. An archaic verb meaning to catch sight of or discern something at a distance ; to raise a loud shout or call out in alarm
2. Old-fashioned term for spotting something faintly in the distance ; a dated way of describing a sudden loud cry or outcry
3. A rare, obsolete verb for noticing something far off ; a literary word for crying out or shouting aloud

Etymology: In Old French, "escrier" meant "to cry out," built from "es-" (out) and "crier" (to cry), the same "crier" that gave English "cry." English took the verb over and used it in the sense of raising a shout, so an ascry was a loud call or outcry, often one that announced that something had been spotted or was happening. Its close relative "descry" came from the same French family, "descrier," and shows how the meaning drifted. "Descry" moved from calling out to catching sight of something from a distance, and that is the sense that survived in common use. "Ascry" stayed closer to the original shout, and it is now rare and mostly found in older poetry and literature.