Etymologically
Log in

bellen

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 15:25. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˈbɛlə(n)/[1]

Forms

bellen[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch bellen, a verb formed from the noun belle, modern bel “bell”.[2][3][1][4] The same verb is Middle Low German bellen.[3] The noun is recorded in Middle Dutch from 1236 and goes back to Proto-Germanic *bello-, from older ⟨*belzo-⟩, the same word as Old English belle (modern English bell); Old Norse bjalla was taken from Old English.[5][6][7] It is compared with Lithuanian balsas (“voice, sound”) and probably comes from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to sound, roar, bark”).[5][6]

The southern dialect verb ⟨bellen⟩ “to bark”, like German bellen, comes from the same root but is a separate Germanic verb (see Usage notes).[5][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle Dutch bellen already had its modern sense of ringing a bell, and Kiliaan records a transitive use: iemand bellen was to have a person cried out with the bell as a spendthrift placed under guardianship.[3][2] In 1563 a legal text says that the guardian of a ghebelde ward may not sell or burden the ward's goods.[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th and 17th centuries the verb is used for ringing at the house door (1564), ringing a hand bell inside the house to call a servant (1637), and ringing as a signal to depart, as at a railway station in 1885.[2] In Catholic churches one rings at the Sanctus, the consecration and the blessing.[2] In some regions schellen is preferred for the same action.[2]

The modern dictionaries give as the main transitive sense “to telephone”, with many compounds such as opbellen, terugbellen and inbellen.[9][1] Dutch lent the word in this sense to Papiamentu (Papiamentu bèl “to ring, to phone”), Sranan Tongo (Sranan Tongo bèl “to phone”) and Indonesian (bel).[10][1]

Timeline

  • 1563 – Ghebelde, “placed under guardianship”, in a legal text.[2]
  • 1564 – Bellen at the house door.[2]
  • 1637 – Ick heb gebelt, ringing for a servant.[2]
  • 1885 – Ringing as the signal for departure at a station.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (intransitive) To ring the doorbell: er wordt gebeld, someone is at the door.[9][2]
  2. (intransitive) To give a signal with a bell.[9][1]
  3. (transitive, also absolute) To telephone, to call someone: ik bel je morgen nog.[9][1]
  4. (transitive) To summon someone by ringing a bell.[9][2]

Word family

  • aanbellen
  • afbellen
  • beller
  • beltoon
  • gebel
  • inbellen
  • opbellen
  • terugbellen
  • videobellen

Usage notes

A separate verb bellen “to bark” is Middle Dutch, recorded in 1450 of cows that snort and bellow, and the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal notes it in several regions, especially the south.[3][2] Kroonen reconstructs it as a Proto-Germanic strong verb *bellan- “to roar, bark”, the source of Old English bellan and German bellen.[8] In Brabant it means “to scold, quarrel”, in the phrase schellen en bellen, and in Limburg “to bark” and “to cough”.[11][12] Jewish Dutch billen, bellen “to bark; to shout; to chatter” came from Yiddish.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Vries, Matthias de; Winkel, L. A. te, et al. (1882–1998), Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, 29 vols., 's-Gravenhage / Leiden: Nijhoff / Sijthoff / SDU; supplement 2001; gtb.ivdnt.org
  3. ^ a b c d Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
  4. ^ Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
  5. ^ a b c Philippa, Marlies; Debrabandere, Frans; Quak, Arend; Schoonheim, Tanneke; Sijs, Nicoline van der (2003–2009), Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands, 4 vols., Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press; online via etymologiebank.nl
  6. ^ a b Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 65
  8. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  9. ^ a b c d e Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  10. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  11. ^ Debrabandere, Frans (2010), Brabants etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van de woordenschat van Antwerpen, Brussel, Noord-Brabant en Vlaams-Brabant, Zwolle: Wbooks
  12. ^ Debrabandere, Frans (2011), Limburgs etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van de woorden uit beide Limburgen, Zwolle: Wbooks
  13. ^ Kamp, Jacob van de; Wijk, Jacob van der (2006), Koosjer Nederlands: Joodse woorden in de Nederlandse taal, Amsterdam: Contact