belfry

American  

[bel-free] / ˈbɛl fri /

noun

• belfries
  plural

1. a bell tower, either attached to a church or other building or standing apart.

2. the part of a steeple or other structure in which a bell is hung.

3. a frame of timberwork that holds or encloses a bell.

4. Slang. head; mind.

   a belfry full of curious notions.

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idioms

1. have bats in one's belfry. bat.

belfry British  

/ ˈbɛlfrɪ /

noun

1. the part of a tower or steeple in which bells are hung

2. a tower or steeple Compare campanile

3. the timber framework inside a tower or steeple on which bells are hung

4. (formerly) a movable tower for attacking fortifications

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belfry More Idioms  

1. see bats in one's belfry.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• belfries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of belfry

1225–75; Middle English belfray, apparently blend of earlier berfray (< Middle French < Germanic ) and Medieval Latin belfredus, dissimilated variant of berefredus < Germanic; compare Middle High German ber ( c ) frit, equivalent to berc defense, protection, refuge (cognate with Old English gebeorg; see harbor) + frit peace, (place of ) safety (cognate with Old English frith )

Explanation

A belfry is a part of a tall tower or steeple that holds bells. Those bells are loud — you would not want to be up in the belfry when they start ringing at noon! A typical belfry is at the top of a church steeple. It's open on all sides so the sound of the ringing bells can escape — if you look up, you can see the large bells through the openings in the belfry. The word comes from roots meaning "to protect" and "peace," and the original meaning was "wooden watch tower." These ancient belfries held watchmen, but also warning bells. The phrase "bats in the belfry" describes someone who's quite eccentric.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

belfry belfries

The chapel, whose unusual design includes three spires, two steeples, a belfry and separate sanctuaries for Catholics and Protestants, has been locked and left to decay since being damaged in the 1971 Sylmar earthquake.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026

The church is scarred by rockets and shells, but the golden dome above its blasted belfry still gleams in the fading autumn light.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 14, 2022

The challenges of making that happen, though, become clear when climbing the confined, 334-step stairwell that winds up to the belfry.

From New York Times ● Jul. 3, 2022

Jefferson, 48, were responding to a call Tuesday afternoon about a suspicious man near Memorial Hall, the oldest building on campus, known for its belfry and bell.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 2, 2022

The hunchback in the belfry had jumped and was swinging madly on the rope.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

Others copper-covered belfries include the serpentine spire of Our Saviour’s Church, those of the downtown Renaissance Rosenborg Castle, and the tower of the Christiansborg Palace which houses the Danish parliament.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 17, 2024

In the intervening years, however, those churches — whose belfries are famously appreciated by the winged mammals — had been illuminated with floodlights.

From New York Times ● Feb. 15, 2023

Yet Irish bat biologist Emma Teeling thinks the answer can be found among bats in the storybook belfries of the Gothic cathedrals in Brittany, France.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 14, 2019

It would be the song of a species of bird from a different continent, some species that nested in cathedral belfries or windmills, which, to my kind of bird, would be like, Well, la-di-da.

From The New Yorker ● Nov. 11, 2013

There were beds ringing, docks smiting in belfries, standards floating—until the whole air above them seemed to be alive.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White