Etymology

handbell

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Today it means: A small bell designed to be rung by hand. Full definition →

Middle English handbelle ← Old English handbelle
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromhandbelle“handbell”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromhandbelle
  3. English todayhandbell

From Middle English handbelle, hande belle, from Old English handbelle (“handbell”). By surface analysis, hand + bell.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.