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The Learning Kingdom's Cool Word of the Day for May 24, 1999
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belfry [n. BEL-free]
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A belfry is a bell tower, or the part of a tower or steeple where
bells are hung. It might seem obvious that the word is related to
bells, but actually its origin had nothing to do with them.
The original belfries were large wooden structures that were wheeled
up to the walls of cities under attack. From the top of the
structure, torches, missiles, and other projectiles were hurled into
the city. In Old French these movable towers were called berfrei,
from an ancient germanic compound root whose two parts mean "to
protect" and "a place of safety."
The Old North French variant of this was belfrei. The meaning
eventually extended to watch towers, which often contained bells. The
word moved into English, and the original meaning was replaced because
of the obvious-seeming connection between belfries and bells.
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