bell

== English == === Pronunciation === enPR: bĕl, IPA(key): /bɛl/ Rhymes: -ɛl Homophone: belle === Etymology 1 === From Middle English belle, from Old English belle (“bell”), from Proto-Germanic *bellǭ. Cognate with West Frisian belle, bel, Dutch bel, Low German Belle, Bel, Danish bjælde, Swedish bjällra, Norwegian bjelle, Icelandic bjalla. ==== Noun ==== bell (plural bells) (music) A percussive instrument made of metal or other hard material, typically but not always in the shape of an inverted cup with a flared rim, which resonates when struck. An instrument that emits a ringing sound, situated on a bicycle's handlebar and used by the cyclist to warn of their presence. The sounding of a bell as a signal. (chiefly British, informal) A telephone call. A signal at a school that tells the students when a class is starting or ending. (music) The flared end of a brass or woodwind instrument. (nautical) Any of a series of strokes on a bell (or similar), struck every half hour to indicate the time (within a four hour watch) The flared end of a pipe, designed to mate with a narrow spigot. (computing) The bell character. Synonyms: alert, beep, \a Anything shaped like a bell, such as the cup or corolla of a flower. (architecture) The part of the capital of a column included between the abacus and neck molding; also used for the naked core of nearly cylindrical shape, assumed to exist within the leafage of a capital. The rounded upper part of a jellyfish. (Scotland, archaic) A bubble. (British, vulgar, slang) Clipping of bell-end (“stupid or contemptible person”). ===== Synonyms ===== (in heraldry): campane (rare): tintinnabule ===== Hyponyms ===== ===== Meronyms ===== (internally suspended tool for striking): clapper, tongue (flaring open end): mouth ===== Holonyms ===== (structure housing bells): bell tower, campanile (sets of bells): carillon, peal ===== Coordinate terms ===== ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Descendants ===== → Fiji Hindi: belo → Japanese: ベル (beru) → Korean: 벨 (bel) ===== Translations ===== ===== See also ===== (study of bells): campanology (expert in bells): campanist, campanologist (player of bells): bell-ringer, carilloner, carilloneur, carillonist, ringer, tintinnabulary, tintinnabulist (playing of bells): bell-ringing, tintinnabulation, tintinnabulism, tintinnation (bell-related): campanistic, campanologic, campanarian, tintinnabular, tintinnabular, tintinnabulary, tintinnabulatory, tintinnabulous (related to a peal of bells or bell tower): campanilian (bell-shaped): bell-shaped, campanal, campaniform, campaniliform, campanular, campanulate, campanulated, campanulous, tintinnabulate (containing bells): campaned (sounding like a small bell): jingling, tinkling, tintinnabulant, tintinnabulating, tintinnating ==== Verb ==== bell (third-person singular simple present bells, present participle belling, simple past and past participle belled) (transitive) To attach a bell to. (transitive) To shape so that it flares out like a bell. to bell a tube (slang, transitive) To telephone. (intransitive) To develop bells or corollas; to take the form of a bell; to blossom. To ring a bell. ===== Translations ===== ===== See also ===== bell out === Etymology 2 === From Middle English bellen, from Old English bellan (“to bellow; make a hollow noise; roar; bark; grunt”), from Proto-Germanic *bellaną (“to sound; roar; bark”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to sound; roar; bark”). Cognate with Scots bell (“to shout; speak loudly”), Dutch bellen (“to ring”), German Low German bellen (“to ring”), German bellen (“to bark”), Swedish böla (“to low; bellow; roar”). ==== Verb ==== bell (third-person singular simple present bells, present participle belling, simple past and past participle belled) (intransitive) To bellow or roar. (transitive) To utter in a loud manner; to thunder forth. ===== Derived terms ===== belling ===== Translations ===== ==== Noun ==== bell (plural bells) The bellow or bay of certain animals, such as a hound on the hunt or a stag in rut. ===== Translations ===== == Catalan == === Etymology === Inherited from Latin bellus. Compare Occitan bèll, bèu, French beau, Spanish bello. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈbeʎ] Rhymes: -eʎ Homophone: vell === Adjective === bell (feminine bella, masculine plural bells, feminine plural belles) (literary or dialectal) beautiful Synonyms: ben plantat, bonic, bufó, formós, maco, preciós ==== Usage notes ==== Disused in most dialects because of its homophony with vell (“old”), but still frequently found in literary texts. ==== Derived terms ==== bellament bellesa belles arts embellir === Further reading === “bell”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007 “bell”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026 “bell” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua. “bell” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962. == Chinese == === Etymology === (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.) === Pronunciation === === Verb === bell (Cantonese) to nudge; to shove 我要我嘅肚仔　每日變fit啲　bell右又bell左　腸道健康啲 [Cantonese, trad.]我要我嘅肚仔　每日变fit啲　bell右又bell左　肠道健康啲 [Cantonese, simp.]ngo5 jiu3 ngo5 ge3 tou5 zai2, mui5 jat6 bin3 fit1 di1, beu6 jau6 jau6 beu6 zo2, coeng4-2 dou6 gin6 hong1 di1 [Jyutping](please add an English translation of this usage example) ==== Derived terms ==== === References === Bolton, Kingsley; Hutton, Christopher (2005), A Dictionary of Cantonese Slang: The Language of Hong Kong Movies, Street Gangs and City Life, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, →ISBN, page 19 == German == === Pronunciation === === Verb === bell singular imperative of bellen (colloquial) first-person singular present of bellen == Maltese == === Etymology === From Arabic بَلَّ (balla). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /bɛll/ Rhymes: -ɛll === Verb === bell (imperfect jbell, past participle miblul) to dip (immerse something shortly or partly into a liquid) ==== Conjugation ==== == Old English == === Noun === bell f alternative form of belle == Welsh == === Pronunciation === (North Wales) IPA(key): /bɛɬ/ (South Wales) IPA(key): /beːɬ/, /bɛɬ/ === Adjective === bell soft mutation of pell === Mutation ===