belfry, beffroy

[Fr. beffroi = a watch-tower, a belfry, a bell-chamber; O. Fr. beffroit, befreit, berfroit, berfreit, berefreit, belefroi a watch-tower; Low Lat. belfredus, bal fred us, berfredus, verfredus. From M. H. Ger. bercvrit, bervrit = a tower for defence, from Ger. berc protection, and O. H. Ger. fridu = a tower; (N. H.) Ger. friede = peace; Sw. & Dan. fred; Dut. vrede. Thus at first there was no connection between bel of the word belfry and the English word bell.] *1. Mil . (In the Middle Ages): A tower erected by besiegers to overlook a place besieged. Sentinels were placed on it to watch the avenues and to prevent surprise, or to give notice of fires by ringing a bell. 2. That part of a steeple in which a bell is hung, the campanile; a room in a tower, a cupola or turret in which a bell is, or may be, hung. "Distant and soft on her ear fell the chimes from the belfry of Christ Church." Long fellow: Evangeline, ii. 5. 3. The framing on which a bell is suspended. (Eng. Cycl.)