bell.
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.
Meaning & usage
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.
A telephone call.
I’ll give you a bell later.
A signal at a school that tells the students when a class is starting or ending.
The flared end of a brass or woodwind instrument.
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.
The bell character.
Anything shaped like a bell, such as the cup or corolla of a flower.
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.
A bubble.
Clipping of bell-end (“stupid or contemptible person”).
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-der. Proto-Germanic *bellǭ Proto-West Germanic *bellā Old English belle Middle English belle English bell Inherited from Middle English belle, from Old English belle, from Proto-West Germanic *bellā, from Proto-Germanic *bellǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-. Cognate with West Frisian belle, bel (“bell”), Dutch bel (“bell”), Low German Belle, Bel (“bell”), Danish bjælde (“bell”), Faroese bjølla (“bell”), Icelandic bjalla (“bell”), Norwegian bjelle (“bell”), Swedish bjällra (“bell”).
To attach a bell to.
Who will bell the cat?
To shape so that it flares out like a bell.
To telephone.
To develop bells or corollas; to take the form of a bell; to blossom.
Hops bell.
To ring a bell.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-der. Proto-Germanic *bellǭ Proto-West Germanic *bellā Old English belle Middle English belle English bell Inherited from Middle English belle, from Old English belle, from Proto-West Germanic *bellā, from Proto-Germanic *bellǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-. Cognate with West Frisian belle, bel (“bell”), Dutch bel (“bell”), Low German Belle, Bel (“bell”), Danish bjælde (“bell”), Faroese bjølla (“bell”), Icelandic bjalla (“bell”), Norwegian bjelle (“bell”), Swedish bjällra (“bell”).
To bellow or roar.
To utter in a loud manner; to thunder forth.
Where this word comes from
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”).
The bellow or bay of certain animals, such as a hound on the hunt or a stag in rut.
Where this word comes from
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”).
Try it on your idea.
bell has 4 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.