knell

Meanings

Verb

• To ring a bell slowly, especially for a funeral; to toll.
• To signal or proclaim something (especially a death) by ringing a bell.
• To summon by, or as if by, ringing a bell.

Noun

• The sound of a bell knelling; a toll (particularly one signalling a death).
• A sign of the end or demise of something or someone.

Origin

• From Middle English knellen, knillen, knyllen, knullen, from Old English cnyllan ("to strike; knock; clap"), from Proto-Germanic *knuzlijaną ("to beat; push; mash"), from Proto-Indo-European *gen- ("to squeeze, pinch, kink, ball up").