knell

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun the sound of a bell rung slowly to announce a death or a funeral or the end of something
  2. verb ring as in announcing death
  3. verb make (bells) ring, often for the purposes of musical edification

Etymology

From Middle English knyllen, from Old English cnyllan (“to strike; knock; clap”), from Proto-West Germanic *knuʀlijan, from Proto-Germanic *knuzlijaną (“to beat; push; mash”), from Proto-Indo-European *gen- (“to squeeze, pinch, kink, ball up”).

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