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knell (n.)

Old English cnyll "sound made by a bell when struck or rung slowly," from knell (v.). Compare Dutch knal, German knall, Danish knald, Swedish knall. The Welsh cnull "death-bell" appears to be a borrowing from English. For vowel evolution, see bury. For pronunciation, see kn-.

knell (v.)

Old English cnyllan "to toll a bell; strike, knock," cognate with Middle High German erknellen "to resound," Old Norse knylla "to beat, thrash;" probably imitative. Intransitive sense, in reference to a bell, is from late 14c. Related: Knelled; knelling.

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Definitions of knell from WordNet
1
knell (v.)
ring as in announcing death;
knell (v.)
make (bells) ring, often for the purposes of musical edification;
Synonyms: ring
2
knell (n.)
the sound of a bell rung slowly to announce a death or a funeral or the end of something;
From wordnet.princeton.edu