Tintinnare

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. A ringing or tinkling sound made by bells or small metal objects colliding
2. the act of producing such a sound through light striking a surface
3. a state characterized by a gentle, melodic resonance that evokes a feeling of tranquility

Etymology: Few words sound more like their meaning than this one. Its Latin ancestor, "tinnire," meant to ring or tinkle, and the Latin verb "tintinnare" doubled that sound, so the word imitates the jingling it describes. The Romans also had "tintinnabulum," a bell or small metal ornament that rang, built from the same stem. Italian kept the verb as "tintinnare," meaning to ring or jingle, and it is the form that the noun and verb senses of the English word follow. Its meaning has stayed close to its origin: a clear, repeated metallic sound. English writers have drawn on the same Latin stem. Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Bells" made "tintinnabulation" a famous coinage for the sound of ringing bells.

Synonyms: ring, chime, jingle, tinkle, peal

Antonyms: silence, mute