Campanologists

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who studies or specializes in the science and art of bell ringing and the mechanisms involved in bell towers
2. one who appreciates the acoustics and techniques of producing sound through bells
3. an individual engaged in the historical and cultural aspects of bell-making and ringing practices

Etymology: Campanology is the study of bells and bell-ringing, and the word that names its devotees is built from a Latin word for bell with a Greek suffix. The Latin "campana" was a bell, and Late Latin "campāna" carried the same sense. Its link to the plain of Campania in Italy is a matter of uncertain origin, so it is best not to treat that as settled. The "-logy" part is Greek, from "lógos", meaning word, speech or reasoning, and it came into English as the ending of "campanology" in its present sense. Attaching "-logy" to a stem gives a field of study, and "-ist" adds the sense of a person who practises or follows that field. So "campanologist" is a person devoted to the study of bells, formed from the bell-word, the Greek ending, and the Latin-to-English suffix "-ist".