BELFRY

belfry

(noun) a room (often at the top of a tower) where bells are hung

campanile, belfry

(noun) a bell tower; usually stands alone unattached to a building

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

belfry (plural belfries)

(obsolete) A movable tower used in sieges.

(dialectal) A shed.

(obsolete) An alarm-tower; a watchtower containing an alarm-bell.

(architecture) A tower or steeple specifically for containing bells, especially as part of a church.

(architecture) A part of a large tower or steeple, specifically for containing bells.

• Episode 12, The Cyclops

Source: Wiktionary


Bel"fry, n. Etym: [OE. berfray movable tower used in sieges, OF. berfreit, berfroit, F. beffroi, fr. MHG. bervrit, bercvrit, G. bergfriede, fr. MHG. bergen to protect (G. bergen to conceal) + vride peace, protection, G. friede peace; in compounds often taken in the sense of security, or place of security; orig. therefore a place affording security. G. friede is akin to E. free. See Burg, and Free.]

1. (Mil. Antiq.)

Definition: A movable tower erected by besiegers for purposes of attack and defense.

2. A bell tower, usually attached to a church or other building, but sometimes separate; a campanile.

3. A room in a tower in which a bell is or may be hung; or a cupola or turret for the same purpose.

4. (Naut.)

Definition: The framing on which a bell is suspended.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

27 June 2025

SQUARE

(adjective) having four equal sides and four right angles or forming a right angle; “a square peg in a round hole”; “a square corner”


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Coffee Trivia

Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.

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