[bel-free] 
| 1. | a bell tower, either attached to a church or other building or standing apart. |
| 2. | the part of a steeple or other structure in which a bell is hung. |
| 3. | a frame of timberwork that holds or encloses a bell. |
| 4. | Slang. head; mind: a belfry full of curious notions. |
| 5. | have bats in one's belfry. bat 2 (def. 3). |
| bel·fry (běl'frē) n. pl. bel·fries
[Middle English belfrei, from Old North French belfroi, alteration of Old French berfrei, berfroi; see bhergh-2 in Indo-European roots.] bel'fried adj. Word History: The words bell and belfry seem obviously related, but in fact the bel- portion of belfry had nothing to do with bells until comparatively recently. Belfry goes back to a compound formed in prehistoric Common Germanic. It is generally agreed that the second part of this compound is the element *frij-, meaning "peace, safety." The first element is either *bergan, "to protect," which would yield a compound meaning "a defensive place of shelter," or *berg-, "a high place," which would yield a compound meaning "a high place of safety, tower." Whatever the meaning of the original Germanic source, its Old French descendant berfrei, which first meant "siege tower," came to mean "watchtower." Presumably because bells were used in these towers, the word was applied to bell towers as well. The Old North French alteration belfroi, which reminded English speakers of their native word belle (our bell), entered Middle English with the sense "bell tower." |
