Bellringing

Part of speech: noun, gerund

Definitions

1. The practice or art of sounding large bells in a church tower, often performed by a team ringing multiple bells in coordinated patterns
2. The skilled activity of operating bell-ropes to produce tunes or changes on a set of tuned church bells
3. The performance of ringing church bells in sequences and patterns, typically done by trained ringers working together in a tower

Etymology: Bellringing is one of the plainest compounds in English: "bell" joined to "ringing," the present participle of "ring." The Middle English forms, such as "belle rynggyng" and "bel ryngynge," show the two words simply placed side by side, with the spelling settling into one word only later. Each part keeps its ordinary sense. A bell is a hollow metal vessel that sounds when struck, and to ring is to make it sound, so the compound names the activity of sounding bells, usually by pulling on ropes or working them from a frame. Because the word is transparent, it carries little hidden history. Its value lies in showing how English builds such names: a noun describing the object followed by a verbal form describing the action, a pattern that produces many other descriptive compounds, from "book-keeping" to "sheep-shearing."

Synonyms: bell-ringing, campanology