bel

bel¹ bell

Pronunciation

• /bɛl/^[3]

Forms

bel f (plural bellen, diminutive belletje n)^[3]

Etymology

The bell is inherited from Middle Dutch belle, inherited from Old Dutch bella, inherited from Proto-Germanic *bello- (“bell”).^[1][3] The same word is Middle Low German belle, West Frisian bel and Old English belle (modern English bell); Old Norse bjalla (modern Swedish bjälla) was borrowed from Old English.^[1][2][4] The Germanic form is usually traced to ⟨*belzō⟩, with ⟨ll⟩ from ⟨lz⟩, and compared with Lithuanian balsas (“voice, sound”) and Latvian balss.^[1][4][5] It probably goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to sound, roar, bark”), the root of German bellen (“to bark”) and of Dutch balken and bulderen.^[1][3] De Vries thinks the detour through ⟨*belzō⟩ unnecessary: Germanic had a group of sound words ⟨bel-, bal-, bol-, bul-⟩ for various noises.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Ghent rule of 1236 says that when the meal is ready so mot men de belle luden, “then the bell must be rung”.^[1][6][7] A Limburg word list of 1240 gives schelle, belle for Latin nola “small bell”.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Middle Dutch the town crier rang a bell instead of beating a basin, and a man who had squandered his property and lost control of it was announced metter bellen; hence in de belle sijn (1568) “to be bankrupt”.^[8] Der valscher bellen volghen, to follow the false bell, meant to be led astray (1351).^[8]

The house bell pulled by a cord appears in the 17th century: aan de bel trekken (1660), and figuratively, by 1896, “to ask someone for help”.^[9] The modern figurative sense “to raise the alarm about something” is noted in 1975.^[10] Ringing doorbells without an errand was already a nuisance in 1646.^[9] The word was also used of lepers' bells, altar bells and the bell on an inn sign.^[9] Which of bel and schel is used differs from place to place; in Surinamese Dutch bel is the church bell, a sense once general in the Netherlands and still usual in Zeeland.^[9][11]

The belhamel, first recorded in 1562, was the castrated ram that wore the bell and led the flock.^[1][12] De kat de bel aanbinden goes back to Aesop's fable of the mice who decided to hang a bell on the cat, but found none willing to do it.^[12]

Dutch passed the word to Indonesian bél, Javanese bel, Papiamentu and Sranan Tongo bèl, and French bélière, the ring that holds a bell's clapper.^[13][3]

Timeline

• 1236 – Belle “bell” in a Ghent rule.^[1][6][7]
• 1240 – Belle glosses Latin nola in Limburg.^[6]
• 1351 – Der valscher bellen volghen “to be led astray”.^[8]
• 1562 – Belhamel “leader”.^[1][7]
• 1568 – In de belle sijn “to be bankrupt”.^[8]
• 1660 – Aan de bel trekken, to pull a house bell.^[9]
• 1896 – Bij iemand aan de bel trekken “to ask someone for help”.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A device with a button or pull that gives a sound signal, especially a doorbell or a bicycle bell: Er ging twee keer een bel.^[14][15]
2. A hollow metal instrument that rings when struck by a clapper or hammer.^[14][15][3]
3. An earring or nose ring; see oorbel.^[15]

Word family

• belhamel
• belleman
• bellen
• belknop
• beltrommel
• deurbel
• fietsbel
• oorbel
• rinkelbel
• tafelbel

bel² bubble

Pronunciation

• /bɛl/^[3]

Forms

bel f (plural bellen, diminutive belletje n)^[3]

Etymology

The bubble is first found in Early Modern Dutch, as ⟨belle⟩, and is probably a variant, perhaps first of the northern Netherlands, of bal and bol “round object”.^[1][9][3] De Vries and others call it a young form with a different vowel beside those words.^[2][5][16] Middle Dutch had bolle and bulle (“bubble, round object”).^[1][4] Franck and Van Wijk think the word may have arisen in the dialects of Holland under the influence of the word for a bell, and that it may have absorbed a dialect form of ⟨bulle⟩, which comes either from Latin bulla (“bubble”) or from the same family as the word for a ball;^[4][2] De Vries holds that ⟨bulle⟩ need not be Latin at all.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1523 belle is the seed head at the top of a plant.^[1] The sense “air bubble” follows in 1576, and Kiliaan glosses belle “swelling” in 1599.^[1][7]

Semantic evolution

Early Modern Dutch also used the word for a ball and for the globe of the earth: in 1608 night “blindfolds this ball of the world”.^[1][9] This sense is obsolete, but the bubble in a liquid has remained the main meaning, as in bellen blazen “to blow soap bubbles”, a common children's game that was used figuratively by 1802.^[9][14] In some regions bel is a swelling, and belroos “erysipelas” (1701, antedated to 1685) is a compound of this sense.^[1][9]

A bel is also a large round glass on a stem.^[14][15] The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal wondered in 1898 whether this was the same word as the bubble, or rather comparable with bol “round bowl” and English bowl;^[9][4][8] Franck and Van Wijk connect the Middle Dutch belle “cup” (1451) with the bell instead.^[9][4][8]

Scots once had bell “bubble” from Dutch.^[13]

Timeline

• 1523 – Belle “seed head”.^[1]
• 1576 – Belle “air bubble”.^[1]
• 1599 – Kiliaan's belle “swelling”.^[1]
• 1608 – Bel “globe of the earth”.^[1][9]
• 1802 – Bellen blazen used figuratively.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bubble of gas or air in a liquid, or one enclosed in soapy water: Er stegen kleine bellen op uit het glas.^[14][15][3]
2. A large round glass on a foot and a short stem.^[14][15]
3. (regional) A swelling.^[9][1]

Word family

• belroos
• luchtbel
• waterbel
• zeepbel