watchword

Definition

A word used as a motto, as expressive of a principle, belief, or rule of action; a rallying cry.

Etymology

From Middle English wacche word, wacchworde, morphologically as watch (“guard, sentinel, sentry”) + word.

Example Sentences

• ""How this perpetual gaiety," exclaimed Louis, "jars upon the ear! Good Heaven! is farewell to be said so gladly? I sometimes start when I think upon the hollowness of all that surrounds me. I often wish my eye had the power of searching the inmost depths of the bosoms whose watchword is my name.""
• "For-ward! be our watchword, Steps and voices joined; / Seek the things before us, Not a look behind."
• "Atrocities of the most vicious kind were justified by the watchwords: "This is war!" "Might is Right." "Necessity knows no law.""

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