bell cot
- noun
- UK
:
campanario
- The old chapel's bell cot was beautifully restored last year.
Examples
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A single bell hung in the modest bell cot above the village hall.
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The architect included a decorative bell cot to preserve the building's historic charm.
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The church has a beautiful bell cot.
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Many bell cots can be seen in rural areas.
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The old chapel's bell cot was beautifully restored last year.
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A single bell hung in the modest bell cot above the village hall.
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The architect included a decorative bell cot to preserve the building's historic charm.
Synonyms
A small structure on a roof that holds one or more bells
A small wall at the end of a roof with openings that hold bells
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
bell + cot
The structure is compositionally predictable in principle: bell + (cote/cot) = a shelter for bells (cf. dovecote/bel(l)cote), so if a learner knows the archaic sense 'cote' = shelter the meaning follows. However, most B1 learners know 'cot' primarily as a small bed and will not know the rare/archaic 'cote' sense, so the meaning is not fully derivable for them without prior exposure.
Etymology
Bell cot is a very literal name. It joins bell and cot, where cot meant 'a small shelter' or little hut on the roof that holds a bell, so the phrase means 'a small shelter for bells'.