tintinnabulation

American  

[tin-ti-nab-yuh-ley-shuhn] / ˌtɪn tɪˌnæb yəˈleɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the ringing or sound of bells.

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tintinnabulation British  

/ ˌtɪntɪˌnæbjʊˈleɪʃən /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

• tintinnabular adjective

Etymology

Origin of tintinnabulation

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

Explanation

The noun tintinnabulation refers to a bell-like sound, like the tintinnabulation of wind chimes blowing in the breeze. The sound of bells ringing, like church bells on a Sunday morning, can be called tintinnabulation. You can describe similar sounds that way, too — like the telephone's tintinnabulation or the tintinnabulation of your sister's silver bracelets tinkling together as she walks. The Latin word tintinnabulum means "bell," and Edgar Allen Poe popularized tintinnabulation's usage in the aptly named poem "The Bells."

Example Sentences

Which of the senses is affected by tintinnabulation?

From Slate • Dec. 4, 2023

Shivaree, chthonian, erumpent, tintinnabulation, exonumia, requiescat, deipnosophist, omphaloskepsis, horripilation, deliquesce, apopemptic.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 26, 2021

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.

From Washington Post • Sep. 13, 2021

There was not a rumble, a tintinnabulation or even a few ka-chings when the national debt crept over $18 billion.

From Washington Times • Dec. 2, 2014

At this there was a simultaneous tintinnabulation of all the bells, as each graven image lowered its raised foot in distress.

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