knell

Meanings

1. To ring a bell slowly, especially for a funeral; to toll.
2. To signal or proclaim something (especially a death) by ringing a bell.
3. To summon by, or as if by, ringing a bell.

1. The sound of a bell knelling; a toll (particularly one signalling a death).
2. A sign of the end or demise of something or someone.

1. A surname.

Etymology

From Middle English knyllen, from Old English cnyllan (“to strike; knock; clap”), from Proto-West Germanic *knuʀlijan, from Proto-Germanic *knuzlijaną (“to beat; push; mash”), from Proto-Indo-European *gen- (“to squeeze, pinch, kink, ball up”).