Etymograph

English

bell

Bell comes from Middle English belle, from Old English belle, from Proto-Germanic *bellǭ ‘bell’, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‘to sound’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰel-1‘to sound’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bellǭ1‘bell’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bellā1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150belle1‘bell’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500belle1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611bell1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English bell
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest: “In a cowslip's bell I lie.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰel-Wiktionary, English bell‘to sound’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bellǭWiktionary, English bell‘bell’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bellāWiktionary, English bellreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150belleWiktionary, English bell‘bell’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500belleWiktionary, English bell
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611bellWiktionary, English bell. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest: “In a cowslip's bell I lie.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‘to sound’

ball, bowl, bold, flame, bull, bald, boil, blaze, bale, blush, blur, blizzard, bleach, bolster, budge, sabha, blemish, bola, phlegm, bolero, blithe, phlox, blain, phallus, bleat, 72 more

Another origin of bell

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰel-‘to sound’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bellaną‘to sound’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bellanreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150bellan‘to bellow’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bellen
  6. Englishtodaybell

Today it means

noun 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.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bell”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- / bell

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