Etymologically
Log in

bell

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 21:51. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

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
  • 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