knell

Pronunciation: /nɛl/

The English word “knell” has 5 meanings listed here.

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.

Etymology

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”).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.