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tintinnabulum

American  
[tin-ti-nab-yuh-luhm] / ˌtɪn tɪˈnæb yə ləm /

noun

PLURAL

tintinnabula
  1. a small, tinkling bell or a set of bells played in succession.


tintinnabulum British  
/ ˌtɪntɪˈnæbjʊləm /

noun

  1. a small high-pitched bell

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of tintinnabulum

First recorded in 1350–1400; from Latin tintinnābulum “a bell,” derivative of tintinnāre “to ring, jangle,” reduplicated form of tintinnīre “to ring, jingle,” of imitative origin + -bulum noun suffix denoting instrument or vessel

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

More fluent but not less gloomy are the sacred lyrics of Ny�ki-Veres first published in 1636 under the Latin title of Tintinnabulum Tripudiantium.

From Project Gutenberg

We should hardly reckon its author among our boasted treasures; yet Burns says "his elegies do honor to our language," and a great deal of the same guileless tintinnabulum did have its admirers all over England a century ago; and some of Shenstone's pretty wares have come drifting down on the wings of albums and anthologies fairly into our day.

From Project Gutenberg

These small bells were known at Rome from the earliest times, and called from their sounds tintinnabulum.

From Project Gutenberg

Hatton, writing in 1708, says that these figures were more admired on Sundays by the populace than the most eloquent preacher in the pulpit within; and Cowper, in his "Table Talk," cleverly compares dull poets to the St. Dunstan's giants:— "When labour and when dulness, club in hand, Like the two figures at St. Dunstan stand, Beating alternately, in measured time, The clock-work tintinnabulum of rhyme."

From Project Gutenberg

Pistillo, Tintinnabulum, 2. intus Globulo ferreo, Crepitaculum, 3. circumversando; Crembalum, 4. ori admotum, Digito; Tympanum, 5.

From Project Gutenberg