# bell

> English word · Noun · IPA /bɛl/ · frequency rank #2,515

## Definitions
1. 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.
2. An instrument that emits a ringing sound, situated on a bicycle's handlebar and used by the cyclist to warn of their presence.
3. The sounding of a bell as a signal.
4. A telephone call.
5. A signal at a school that tells the students when a class is starting or ending.
6. The flared end of a brass or woodwind instrument.
7. Any of a series of strokes on a bell (or similar), struck every half hour to indicate the time (within a four hour watch)
8. The flared end of a pipe, designed to mate with a narrow spigot.
9. The bell character.
10. Anything shaped like a bell, such as the cup or corolla of a flower.
11. 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.
12. The rounded upper part of a jellyfish.
13. A bubble.
14. Clipping of bell-end (“stupid or contemptible person”).

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-der.
Proto-Germanic *bellǭ
Proto-West Germanic *bellā
Old English belle
Middle English belle
English bell
From Middle English belle (“bell”), from Old English belle (“bell”), from Proto-West Germanic *bellā (“bell”), Proto-Germanic *bellǭ (“bell”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to sound”). 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”).

## Easily confused with
- **BL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bell-vs-bl)
- **bet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bell-vs-bet)
- **ben** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bell-vs-ben)
- **BLM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bell-vs-blm)
- **bey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bell-vs-bey)
- **bla** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bell-vs-bla)
- **bev** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bell-vs-bev)
- **bol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bell-vs-bol)
- **bes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bell-vs-bes)
- **ber** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bell-vs-ber)
- **BLS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bell-vs-bls)
- **BLE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bell-vs-ble)
- **bly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bell-vs-bly)
- **best** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bell-vs-best)
- **bill** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bell-vs-bill)
- **bowl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bell-vs-bowl)
- **belt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bell-vs-belt)
- **bull** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bell-vs-bull)
- **bold** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bell-vs-bold)
- **beta** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bell-vs-beta)

## Common misspellings (3)
`bbell`, `blel`, `ebll`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/bell