belfry

English

Etymology

From Middle English belfrey, bellfray, belfray, from Old French belfroi, berfroi, berfrey (changed to have an ⟨l⟩ by association with bell), from Middle High German bërcvrit or bërvrit (“defensive tower”) (modern German Bergfried),^[1][2][3] possibly via Late Latin berefredus, from Proto-Germanic *bergafriþuz. Doublet of bergfried.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛlfɹi/, enPR: bĕlʹfrē

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛlfɹi

Noun

belfry (plural belfries)

1. (architecture) A tower or steeple typically containing bells, especially as part of a church.
2. (architecture) A part of a large tower or steeple, specifically for containing bells.
   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[The Cyclops]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

     From the belfries far and near the funereal deathbell tolled unceasingly while all around the gloomy precincts rolled the ominous warning of a hundred muffled drums punctuated by the hollow booming of pieces of ordnance.

3. (dialectal) A shed.
4. (obsolete) A movable tower used in sieges.
5. (obsolete) An alarm-tower; a watchtower possibly containing an alarm-bell.

Derived terms

• belfried
• have bats in one's belfry, have bats in the belfry

 

Translations

tower or steeple specifically for containing bells, especially as part of a church

Bulgarian: камбанария (kambanarija) Catalan: campanar (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 鐘樓／钟楼 (zh) (zhōnglóu) Danish: klokketårn (da) n Dutch: klokkentoren (nl) m, belfort (nl) m Finnish: kellotorni (fi) French: beffroi (fr) m Friulian: cjampanîli, cjampanili, cjampanîl, cjampanil German: Glockenturm (de) m Greek: καμπαναριό (el) n (kampanarió), κωδωνοστάσιο (el) n (kodonostásio) Hungarian: harangtorony (hu) Irish: clogás m Istriot: canpaneîl, canpanèil Italian: campanile (it) m Japanese: 鐘楼 (ja) (しょうろう, shōrō) Macedonian: камбанарија (mk) f (kambanarija) Manx: claggys m, thie cluig m, shamyr chluig f Maori: pourewa pere Polish: dzwonnica (pl) f Portuguese: campanário (pt) m, torre sineira f Romansch: clutger m (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran), clucher m (Puter, Vallader) Russian: колоко́льня (ru) f (kolokólʹnja) Spanish: campanil, campanario (es), clochel m, espadaña (es) f Swedish: klocktorn (sv), klockstapel (sv) c Tagalog: batingawan Ukrainian: дзвіни́ця (uk) f (dzvinýcja) Venetan: canpanil, canpanile, canpanièl, canpaniłe Welsh: clochdy m

part of a large tower or steeple, specifically for containing bells

Bulgarian: камбанария (kambanarija) Finnish: kellotorni (fi) German: Glockenstube (de) f Greek: κωδωνοστάσιο (el) n (kodonostásio) Hungarian: harangtorony (hu) Irish: clogás m Japanese: 鐘楼 (ja) (しょうろう, shōrō) Maori: pourewa pere Norwegian: Bokmål: klokkerom n Nynorsk: klokkerom n Portuguese: campanário (pt) m Romansch: clutger m (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran), clucher m (Puter, Vallader) Spanish: campanario (es) m, espadaña (es) f, campanil m, clochel m Tagalog: batingawan

moveable tower used in sieges

Bulgarian: обсадна кула (obsadna kula) Chinese: Mandarin: 攻城塔 Finnish: piiritystorni French: beffroi (fr) m German: Belagerungsturm (de) m

watchtower containing an alarm-bell

Bulgarian: наблюдателна кула (nabljudatelna kula) Dutch: belfort (nl) n Finnish: kellotorni (fi) French: beffroi (fr) m German: Bergfried (de) m

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “belfry”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
2. “belfry”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
3. Alternative spelling and languages with loanwords from the Middle High German word, in Benecke's Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch

• Michael Quinion (2004) “Belfry”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, →ISBN.