tintinnabulum

English

Etymology

From Latin tintinnābulum (“a small monastic bell”).

Noun

tintinnabulum (plural tintinnabula)

1. A small clinking bell, particularly (historical) a small bell used to call monks to certain tasks.
   • 1878, Hugh Reginald Haweis, "Bell", Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th edition, Volume III, pages 536–7:

     ...it is worth while to enumerate the different kinds of bells named by Hieronymus Magius in his work De Tintinnabulis:—1. Tintinnabulum, a little bell, otherwise called tinniolum, for refectory or dormitory, according to Belethus, but Durandus names squilla for the refectory...

2. A set of bells or metal plates used as a musical instrument or as a toy.

Synonyms

• tinniolum

Latin

Etymology

From tintinn(ā) (“to ring; to tinkle”) +‎ -bulum (suffix forming instruments).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /tin.tinˈnaː.bu.lum/, [t̪ɪn̪t̪ɪnˈnäːbʊɫ̪ʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /tin.tinˈna.bu.lum/, [t̪in̪t̪inˈnäːbulum]

Noun

tintinnābulum n (genitive tintinnābulī); second declension

1. a bell, specifically a tintinnabulum.

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	tintinnābulum	tintinnābula
Genitive	tintinnābulī	tintinnābulōrum
Dative	tintinnābulō	tintinnābulīs
Accusative	tintinnābulum	tintinnābula
Ablative	tintinnābulō	tintinnābulīs
Vocative	tintinnābulum	tintinnābula

Synonyms

• tinniolum

Derived terms

• tintinnābulātus

Related terms

• tintinnāculus
• tintinnō
• tintinnum

Descendants

• English: tintinnabulum
• Portuguese: tintinábulo
• French: tintinnabuler

References

• “tintinnabulum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “tintinnabulum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• tintinnabulum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• tintinnabulum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “tintinnabulum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “tintinnabulum”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin