bell gable
- noun
- Specialized
:
campanario
- Many rural churches were built with a bell gable rather than a tower.
Examples
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The old chapel featured a simple bell gable above its entrance.
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A weathered bell gable still stands at the west end of the building.
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The bell gable looks beautiful.
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That bell gable is unique!
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Many rural churches were built with a bell gable rather than a tower.
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The old chapel featured a simple bell gable above its entrance.
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A weathered bell gable still stands at the west end of the building.
Synonyms
A small structure on a roof that holds one or more bells
A small shelter that holds a bell on the roof or wall of a church
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound combines two concrete nouns so its meaning—a gable that supports or houses bells—is directly derivable from 'bell' (a ringing object) + 'gable' (part of a roof wall). This follows ordinary English noun-compounding patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the meaning, even if the architectural term is somewhat specialized.
Etymology
Bell gable is a plain, literal name that joins bell and gable, the triangle at the top of a wall under the roof where a bell hangs. Small churches that could not build a tower used this small wall or opening to hold a bell, called a 'bell cote', so the name came to mean 'an extension of a gable wall that supports bells'.
