bell

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bel/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English belle,^[2] inherited from Old English belle,^[3][4][5] with cognates in Middle Dutch and Middle Low German belle but not elsewhere in Germanic except as borrowings.^[3][4] It is perhaps related to Old English bellan “to roar”,^[4][5][2] and so perhaps from an imitative Proto-Indo-European *bhel- (“to sound, roar”).^[3] It is related to bellow.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A hollow metal instrument that rings when struck: before 900, in the works of Alfred, according to Barnhart;^[4] before 1000 in the OED, which also has small bells as decoration, as on a horse's harness or a falcon.^[6]

Semantic evolution

A bell rung to tell the hours, or the bell of a clock, is from 1422.^[6] The verb, to fit with a bell, is from the late 14th century,^[3] and allusions to the fable of the mice who decided to bell the cat, so as to hear it coming, are as old.^[3] A bell-shaped flower is from 1610.^[6] On board ship a bell is a half-hour division of a watch, by 1804 in Etymonline,^[3] 1836 in the OED, from the bell struck every half hour.^[6] A bell pepper is from 1707 and bell-shaped glasses from the 1640s.^[3] Bell, book and candle refers to a form of excommunication.^[3] A bell rung to summon a servant is from 1782, and ring a bell, to awaken a memory, from 1934.^[3] The statistical bell curve is from 1920.^[3]

Timeline

• a. 900 – a bell.^[4]
• 1422 – a clock bell.^[6]
• late 14th century – verb, and bell the cat.^[3]
• 1610 – a bell-shaped flower.^[6]
• 1707 – bell pepper.^[3]
• 1804 – a ship's bell, a half hour.^[3]
• 1920 – bell curve.^[3]
• 1934 – ring a bell.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A hollow metal instrument, usually cup-shaped with a flared mouth, that gives a ringing tone when struck.
2. A device that rings or buzzes as a signal, such as a doorbell.
3. Something shaped like a bell, such as the flared mouth of a wind instrument or a bell-shaped flower.
4. On a ship, the stroke of a bell marking each half hour of a watch.

Verb

1. To put a bell on.
2. To flare like a bell.

Word family

• bell-less
• belling

Related words

• bellow
• bellwether
• doorbell
• bluebell

Usage notes

A separate verb bell, from Old English bellan, means “to bellow, roar”, especially of a stag in rut, and its noun is the cry of a stag, from 1510.^[2][7][6] In Scots a bell was also a bubble, of unknown origin.^[7][6]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press