# knell

> English word · Verb · IPA /nɛl/ · frequency rank #47,718

## Definitions
1. To ring a bell slowly, especially for a funeral; to toll.
2. To signal or proclaim something (especially a death) by ringing a bell.
3. To summon by, or as if by, ringing a bell.

## Etymology
From Middle English knyllen, from Old English cnyllan (“to strike; knock; clap”), from Proto-West Germanic *knuʀlijan, from Proto-Germanic *knuzlijaną (“to beat; push; mash”), from Proto-Indo-European *gen- (“to squeeze, pinch, kink, ball up”).

## Easily confused with
- **knew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/knell-vs-knew)
- **knoll** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/knell-vs-knoll)
- **knelt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/knell-vs-knelt)
- **krill** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/knell-vs-krill)
- **Kroll** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/knell-vs-kroll)
- **Nell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/knell-vs-nell)
- **kill** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kill-vs-knell)
- **knee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/knee-vs-knell)
- **keel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/keel-vs-knell)
- **kelp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelp-vs-knell)
- **Kiel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kiel-vs-knell)
- **kell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kell-vs-knell)
- **Kelly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelly-vs-knell)
- **knees** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/knees-vs-knell)
- **kneel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kneel-vs-knell)
- **knead** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/knead-vs-knell)
- **kneels** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kneels-vs-knell)

## Common misspellings (5)
`kenll`, `kknell`, `knlel`, `knnell`, `nkell`

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