tintinnabulum

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small tinkling bell, especially a historical bell used to summon members of a religious community

   A monk rang the tintinnabulum before the evening meal.

2. 2
   noun

   a set of small bells or, in literary use, the mingled tinkling sound they make

   A confused tintinnabulum drifted from the distant street.

Borrowed from Latin tintinnabulum, 'bell,' from tintinnare, 'to ring or tinkle,' an imitative reduplicated formation, plus an instrument-forming suffix. English kept the object sense and also used the resonant Latin word for a mingled ringing or tinkling sound.

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