Belfry
noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A tower or steeple typically containing bells, especially as part of a church.
"“You know, this house does have a belfry filled with local bats. Maybe Laszlo went up there.” “Oh, so like my darling perverted husband, to sniff out the local bordello immediately upon arrival. [chuckles] Could you take me to the belfry?”"
- 2 a room (often at the top of a tower) where bells are hung wordnet
- 3 A part of a large tower or steeple, specifically for containing bells.
"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."
- 4 a bell tower; usually stands alone unattached to a building wordnet
- 5 A shed. dialectal
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 A movable tower used in sieges. obsolete
- 7 An alarm-tower; a watchtower possibly containing an alarm-bell. obsolete
Example
More examples"How can you have a belfry without bats?"
Etymology
From Middle English belfry, bellfray, belfray, berfrey, barfray, from Old French belfroi, berfroi, berfrey, from Late Latin berfrēdus, from Frankish *bergafriþu, from Proto-Germanic *bergafriþuz, equivalent to barrow + frith. English forms containing bel- as opposed to ber- were preferred due to false association with English bell. Cognate with Middle High German bërcvrit, bërvrit (“defensive tower”) (modern German Bergfried), Middle Dutch bergfrede, bergfert. Doublet of bergfried.