tintinnabulation

[tin-ti-nab-yuh-ley-shuhn]

noun

1. the ringing or sound of bells.

tintinnabulation

/ ˌtɪntɪˌnæbjʊˈleɪʃən /

noun

1. the act or an instance of the ringing or pealing of bells

Other Word Forms

• tintinnabular adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tintinnabulation¹

From Latin tintinnābul(um) “bell” + -ation; coined by Edgar Allan Poe in his poem Bells (published 1849); tintinnabular

Example Sentences

That poem, aptly titled “The Bells,” uses so many different words to describe the sounds made by bells that Mr. Poe evidently ran out and had to invent a new one: “tintinnabulation.”

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The bells keep ringing throughout “Up 2 Me,” the third Yeat album to land this year, but each tintinnabulation seems purposeful and precise, designed to keep our ears attentive to Yeat’s dizzying mouth melodies.

Read more on Washington Post

Two dozen billiard balls roll on tracks, striking a series of devices that set off a tintinnabulation of bells, chimes and metallic clinks.

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Even as I basked in the fortune of my life, loneliness performed its gentle tintinnabulations.

Read more on New York Times

We rarely go for a local walk without encountering a shepherd and that telltale tintinnabulation of neck-bells.

Read more on The Guardian