Etymology

knell

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Today it means: To ring a bell slowly, especially for a funeral; to toll. Full definition →

Middle English knyllen ← Old English cnyllan ← Proto-West Germanic *knuʀlijan
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*gen-“to squeeze, pinch, kink, ball up”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*knuzlijaną“to beat; push; mash”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*knuʀlijan
  4. Old English · inherited fromcnyllan“to strike; knock; clap”
  5. Middle English · inherited fromknyllen
  6. English todayknell

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”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.