▪ I. knell, n.
(nɛl)
Forms: α. 1–3 cnyll, (1 cnyl), 3 cnul, 5–6 knyll, (6 knyle), 7 knill; β. 4 knel, 6– knell.
[OE. cnyll masc.:—*cnulli-, from stem of cnyllan, knell v. (perh. a late formation, after orig. i- ns. from strong vbs.): thence app. Welsh cnul, cnull, ‘death-bell, passing-bell, knell’. The later form knell goes with the same form in the vb. Cf. Ger. and Du. knoll ‘clap, loud report’ from knellen.]
The sound made by a bell when struck or rung, esp. the sound of a bell rung slowly and solemnly, as immediately after a death or at a funeral.
| α c 961 æthelwold Rule St. Benet xlviii. 74 Siðþan hy þone forman cnyl to none ᵹehyren, gangen hy ealle from hyra weorce. c 1000 ælfric's Colloq. in Wr.-Wülcker 103 Hwilon ic ᵹehyre cnyll, and ic arise. c 1300 Vox & Wolf 251 in Rel. Ant. II. 277 Thi soul-cnul ich wile do ringe. a 1512 Fabyan Will in Chron. Pref. 5, I will that my knyll be rongyn at my monethes mynde after the guyse of London. |
| β c 1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 149 Laste knel, le dreyne apel. 1530 Aberd. Counc. Reg. (1844) Pref. 37 The watch that beis in Sanct Nicholass stepill..quhen he seis ony man cummand to the toun ridand..[sal] gif bot a knell with the bell, and gif thair beis tua, tua knellis. a 1541 Wyatt Louer showing continual paines (R.), The dolefull bell that still doth ring The woful knell of all my ioyes. 1591 Spenser Daphnaida 334 Let..the ayre be fil'd with noyse of dolefull knells. 1605 Shakes. Macb. ii. i. 63 The Bell inuites me. Heare it not, Duncan, for it is a Knell, That summons thee to Heauen, or to Hell. 1750 Gray Elegy 1 The curfew tolls the knell of parting day. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles iv. xx, The Convent bell Long time had ceased its matin knell. 1881 Besant & Rice Chapl. of Fleet I. 3 All the morning the funeral knell has been tolling. |
b. fig. A sound announcing the death of a person or the passing away of something; an omen of death or extinction. Also, allusively, in phrases expressing or having reference to death or extinction.
| β 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, ii. i. 32 Brought agen to th' Bar, to heare His Knell rung out, his Iudgement. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 148 No stationary steeds Cough their own knell. 1878 Emerson Misc., Fort. Repub. Wks. (Bohn) III. 393 Men whose names are a knell to all hope of progress. |
c. transf. A sound resembling a knell; a doleful cry, dirge, etc.
| α 1647 H. More Song of Soul i. iii. xxi, Ever and anon a dolefull knill Comes from the fatall Owl. |
| β 1820 Shelley Witch of Atlas xxv, A knell Of sobbing voices came upon her ears. |
d. Comb., as
† knell-man,
knell-voice.
| 1611 G. Vadianus Panegyr. Verses in Coryat's Crudities, Bell-man and knell-man gentrie of the steeple. 1900 Speaker 9 June 276/1, I still must only hearken To these knell-voices in the blood. |
▪ II. knell, v. Now chiefly
arch. (
nɛl)
Forms: α. 1
cnyllan, 4
knulle (
ü), 4–5
knylle; β. 4–5
knelle, 6
knel, 7–
knell.
[OE. cnyllan:—*knulljan; app. in ablaut relation to MHG. er-knellen (OTeut. *knell-, knall-, knoll-: see Grimm s.v. knellen): thence app. Welsh cnulio to toll (a bell). The later knell was prob. an onomatopœic modification.] † 1. trans. To strike with a resounding blow, to knock; also
absol. Obs.| α c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. vii. 7 Cnysað vel cnyllas ᵹe [pulsate] & un-tyned bið iuh. c 975 Rushw. Gosp. Luke xi. 10 Ðæm cnyllende ontyned bið. Ibid. xii. 36 Miððy cymeð & cnyllað [Lindisf. cnyllsað] sona ontyned bið him. c 1311 Pol. Songs (Rolls) 193 Ther hy were knulled y the put-falle, This eorles ant barouns ant huere knyhtes alle. |
| β 13.. Propr. Sanct. (Vernon MS.) in Herrig Archiv LXXXI. 84/70 Whos heued þei knelled wiþ moni a knoc. |
† 2. trans. To ring (a bell); in later use
esp. to ring slowly and solemnly, as for a death or at a funeral, to toll; also
absol. Obs.| α c 961 æthelwold Rule St. Benet xlviii. 74 Hy ealle..don hy ᵹearuwe, þæt hy maᵹon to cirican gan, þonne mon eft cnylle. a 1400 Sir Perc. 1349 Now knyllyne thay the comone belle. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxii. 102 He knyllez a lytill bell of siluer. |
| β 1494 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 189 When the more Bell at Powles chirch is knelled. 1530 Aberd. Counc. Reg. (1844) Pref. 37 And quhowsone the watch..heirs him knelland continuall and fast, than he sall jow the comond bell. 1563–7 Buchanan Reform St. Andros Wks. (1892) 11 At ten he sal knel; at half hour to xi knel; at xi ryng to the dennar. a 1651 Calderwood Hist. Kirk (1843) II. 362 A little before midnight..the trumpets were blowin, the commoun bell knelled. |
3. intr. a. Of a bell: To ring; now
esp. for a death or at a funeral; to toll.
| α c 1430 Freemasonry 689 When thou herest to masse knylle, Pray to God with herte stylle. |
| β a 1375 Lay Folks Mass Bk. App. iv. 571 Ȝit schul ȝe preye..Til þat þe belle knelle. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 231 O hirdis of Israel, heir ȝe the Lordis bell, Knelland fast in ȝour eir. 1622 Fletcher Span. Curate v. ii, Not worth a blessing, nor a bell to knell for thee. 1820 Byron Mar. Fal. iv. ii. 182 The sullen huge oracular bell, Which never knells but for a princely death. |
b. gen. To give forth a reverberating or a mournful sound. Usually
transf. or
fig. from a.
| α a 1400–50 Alexander 775 So knellyd [Ashm. MS. kinlid for knilid] þe clarions þat all þe clyff rongen. |
| β a 1450 Holland Howlat 764 Claryonis lowde knellis, Portatiuis, and bellis. 1808 Scott Hunting Song i, Hawks are whistling, horns are knelling. 1887 Dowden Shelley II. xii. 499 The waves began to cry and knell against the rocks. |
c. fig. To sound ominously or with ominous effect. Also said allusively in reference to death or extinction. (
Cf. knell n. b.)
| 1816 Scott Bl. Dwarf vii, The words of the warlock are knelling in my ears. 1880 G. Meredith Tragic Com. (1881) 161 Her natural blankness of imagination read his absence as an entire relinquishment: it knelled in a vacant chamber. |
4. trans. To summon or call by or as by a knell; to ring (
into, etc.).
| 1800 Coleridge Christabel ii. 2 Each matin bell, the Baron saith, Knells us back to a world of death. 1831 Lytton Godolphin 65 Ladies who become countesses are knelled into marriage. |
b. To proclaim by or as by a knell.
| 1840 Lady C. Bury Hist. of Flirt iii, Mr. Flynn's requiem was knelled in the hearts of the elders. 1847 Emerson Poems (1857) 137 Let..the bell of beetle and of bee Knell their melodious memory. 1859 G. Meredith R. Feverel x, Benson's tongue was knelling dinner. |
Hence
ˈknelling vbl. n. and ppl. a.| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 279/2 Knyllynge of a belle, tintillacio. 1662 T. W. Thorny Abb. 14 Are these sounds the knelling obsequies You use to keep at a King's Funerall? 1863 Thornbury True as Steel III. 142 The knelling shots of the harquebusses. 1865 Pall Mall G. 12 June 4 The mournful knelling of the bells from the steeples of Cronstadt and St. Petersburg. |