bell

1. a hollow, usually metal, cup-shaped instrument that emits a musical ringing sound when struck, often by a clapper hanging inside it

2. an electrical device that rings or buzzes as a signal

3. the bowl-shaped termination of the tube of certain musical wind instruments, such as the trumpet or oboe

4. any musical percussion instrument emitting a ringing tone, such as a glockenspiel, one of a set of hand bells, etc

5. Nautical a signal rung on a ship's bell to count the number of half-hour intervals during each of six four-hour watches reckoned from midnight. Thus, one bell may signify 12.30, 4.30, or 8.30 am or pm

7. Biology a structure resembling a bell in shape, such as the corolla of certain flowers or the body of a jellyfish

8. bell, book, and candle instruments used formerly in excommunications and other ecclesiastical acts

bell

a bellowing or baying cry, esp that of a hound or a male deer in rut

Bell

1. Acton, Currer , and Ellis. pen names of the sisters Anne, Charlotte, and Emily Brontë

2. Alexander Graham. 1847--1922, US scientist, born in Scotland, who invented the telephone (1876)

3. Sir Francis Henry Dillon. 1851--1936, New Zealand statesman; prime minister of New Zealand (1925)

4. Gertrude (Margaret Lowthian). 1868--1926, British traveller, writer, and diplomat; secretary to the British High Commissioner in Baghdad (1917--26)

5. Joshua. born 1967, US violinist

6. (Susan) Jocelyn, married name Jocelyn Burnell, born 1943, British radio astronomer, who discovered the first pulsar

7. Vanessa, original name Vanessa Stephen. 1879--1961, British painter; a member of the Bloomsbury group, sister of Virginia Woolf and wife of the art critic Clive Bell (1881--1964)

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Bell

The body of a Corinthian capital or a Composite capital without the foliage.

Bell

(religion, spiritualism, and occult)

For thousands of years bells have been instruments of ritual and magic. The ringing of bells was thought to drive away evil spirits, hence the wearing of bells around the necks of cattle and other domestic animals to keep them free of disease and clear of malicious spirits. In medieval Europe, bells were rung during plagues in the belief that the sound would drive away the pestilence and any evil emanations. Doctors would even prescribe the ringing of bells when a patient was sick. The ringing of a bell is part of the exorcism ritual and the rite of excommunication (see Bell, Book and Candle). In Italy, bells are placed around the necks of cattle and horses to protect them from the evil eye; in China, they are rung to bring rain; in Haiti, a small silver bell hangs from the handle of the asson, the Voodoo priest's ritual tool. In Wicca, a bell is frequently rung at the beginning and end of rituals and within certain rites.

The outer shell of the bell is equated with the female element and the inner clapper with the male. Together, then, there is union. The vibrations created by the ringing of the bell are thought to raise spiritual power and increase magical energy. Bells are rung for fertility, for celebration, and for magical workings.

A common belief in the Middle Ages was that the sound of church bells ringing was abhorrent to witches and would cause them to fall from their broomsticks while they rode across the sky to the sabbat. Some old church bells are inscribed with the words fulgura frango, dissipo ventos meaning "lightning and thunder, I break asunder." It was thought that the ringing of church bells would overpower the evil spirits who caused storms and thereby temper the weather. Many church bells were dedicated to specific saints and were blessed in great ceremony.

The practice of hanging bells from clothing is found worldwide and was originally done for protection from evil spirits. Bells have been hung from the clothing of the sick and those afraid of being possessed or cursed. Medicine is sometimes drunk from a bell, in the belief that the sacred "cup" will give added potency to the potion.

In necromantic rituals, bells are used to help raise the dead and return their spirits to this earthly realm so that they might be interrogated. The practice of hanging a small bell on the door of a shop was not originally to tell the shopkeeper if anyone had entered, but instead to ensure that no evil spirits came inside.

The oldest bell in the world was found near Babylon and is believed to be over three thousand years old. The Roman emperor Gaius Octavianus (63 BCE-14 CE), who later became the first Emperor Augustus, hung a large bell from the Temple of Jupiter. In Athens the priests of Cybele used handbells in their rites, while in Sparta women walked the streets ringing small bells when a king died. Small bells made of copper and dating to the pre-Inca era have been found in ancient Peruvian tombs.

The sixth century saw the first use of church bells, although they were not introduced into western churches until the eighth century. They were termed seings or signa, and were not rung but simply struck with a wooden or metal hammer. (From this practice came the word toc-seing or tocsin applied to the peals of the Middle Ages.)

Witches believe that there is power in the vibrations caused by the ringing of a bell (or the sounding of a "singing bowl" or shaking of a sistrum, or ritual rattle). Together with the smoke of incense, the ringing of bells attunes a magic circle and brings great harmony.

What does it mean when you dream about a bell?

Something calling for attention. Perhaps a warning bell or an alarm. Bells are also sounded at beginnings and endings. In Western culture, bells are associated with weddings (wedding bells) and freedom (the liberty bell). Also, bellwethers influence or presage the future.

bell

[bel]

(engineering)

A hollow metallic cylinder closed at one end and flared at the other; it is used as a fixed-pitch musical instrument or signaling device and is set vibrating by a clapper or tongue which strikes the lip.

(metallurgy)

A conical device that seals the top of a blast furnace.

bell

bell, 1

1. The body of a Corinthian capital or a Composite capital, with the foliage removed; also called a vase or basket.

2. The portion of a pipe which is enlarged to receive the end of another pipe of the same diameter for the purpose of making a joint; also called a hub.

bell

passing bell; rung to indicate demise. [Christian Tradition: Jobes, 198]

BELL

(1)

An early system on the IBM 650 and Datatron 200 series.

Versions: BELL L2, BELL L3.

[Listed in CACM 2(5):16 (May 1959)].

Bell

(company)

bell

(character)

ASCII 7, ASCII mnemonic "BEL", the character code which prodces a standard audibile warning from the computer or terminal. In the teletype days it really was a bell, since the advent of the VDU it is more likely to be a sound sample (e.g. the sound of a bell) played through a loudspeaker.

Also called "G-bell", because it is typed as Control-G.

The term "beep" is preferred among some microcomputer hobbyists.

Compare feep, visible bell.

This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Bell

a signaling instrument, in the shape of a hollow pear that has been cut off at the bottom; a clapper is suspended inside. Bells are made of bronze alloys. A sound of a certain pitch is produced by swinging either the bell itself or the clapper. Since ancient times the bell has been used to summon the population (the assembly bell), to sound an alert, or to assemble the troops (the tocsin). Since the middle of the ninth century, the ringing of bells has been an integral element of church rites in Russia. Special bell towers and belfries were built. In Europe comparatively large bells were first cast sometime between the fourth and sixth centuries. The largest bells ever cast were manufactured in Russia—for example, the Tsar’s Bell in the Moscow Kremlin.

REFERENCE

Olovianishnikov, N. I. Istoriia kolokolov i kolokololiteinoe delo, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1912.
Pukhnachev, Iu. “Glagol vremen, metalla zvon. . . .” Nauka i zhizn’, 1972, no. 8.