Now chiefly arch. Forms: α. 1 cnyllan, 4 knulle (ü), 4–5 knylle; β. 4–5 knelle, 6 knel, 7– knell. [OE. cnyllan:—*knulljan; app. in ablaut relation to MHG. er-knellen (OTeut. *knell-, knall-, knoll-: see Grimm s.v. knellen): thence app. Welsh cnulio to toll (a bell). The later knell was prob. an onomatopœic modification.]
† 1. trans. To strike with a resounding blow, to knock; also absol. Obs.
α. c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. vii. 7. Cnysað vel cnyllas ʓe [pulsate] & un-tyned bið iuh.
c. 975. Rushw. Gosp., Luke xi. 10. Ðæm cnyllende ontyned bið. Ibid., xii. 36. Miððy cymeð & cnyllað [Lindisf. cnyllsað] sona ontyned bið him.
c. 1311. Pol. Songs (Rolls), 193. Ther hy were knulled y the put-falle, This eorles ant barouns ant huere knyhtes alle.
β. 13[?]. Propr. Sanct. (Vernon MS.), in Herrig’s Archiv, LXXXI. 84/70. Whos heued þei knelled wiþ moni a knoc.
† 2. trans. To ring (a bell); in later use esp. to ring slowly and solemnly, as for a death or at a funeral, to toll; also absol. Obs.
α. c. 961. Æthelwold, Rule St. Benet, xlviii. 74. Hy ealle … don hy ʓearuwe, þæt hy maʓon to cirican gan, þonne mon eft cnylle.
a. 1400. Sir Perc., 1349. Now knyllyne thay the comone belle.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), xxii. 102. He knyllez a lytill bell of siluer.
β. 1494. in Eng. Gilds (1870), 189. When the more Bell at Powles chirch is knelled.
1530. Aberd. Counc. Reg. (1844), Pref. 37. And quhowsone the watch … heirs him knelland continuall and fast, than he sall jow the comond bell.
1563–7. Buchanan, Reform. St. Andros, Wks. (1892), 11. At ten he sal knel; at half hour to xi knel; at xi ryng to the dennar.
a. 1651. Calderwood, Hist. Kirk (1843), II. 362. A little before midnight … the trumpets were blowin, the commoun bell knelled.
3. intr. a. Of a bell: To ring; now esp. for a death or at a funeral; to toll.
α. c. 1430. Freemasonry, 689. When thou herest to masse knylle, Pray to God with herte stylle.
β. a. 1375. Lay Folks Mass Bk., App. IV. 571. Ȝit schul ȝe preye … Til þat þe belle knelle.
1567. Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.), 231. O hirdis of Israel, heir ȝe the Lordis bell, Knelland fast in ȝour eir.
1622. Fletcher, Span. Curate, V. ii. Not worth a blessing, nor a bell to knell for thee.
1820. Byron, Mar. Fal., IV. ii. 182. The sullen huge oracular bell, Which never knells but for a princely death.
b. gen. To give forth a reverberating or a mournful sound. Usually transf. or fig. from a.
α. a. 1400–50. Alexander, 775. So knellyd [Ashm. MS. kinlid for knilid] þe clarions þat all þe clyff rongen.
β. a. 1450. Holland, Hawlat, 764. Claryonis lowde knellis, Portatiuis, and bellis.
1808. Scott, Hunting Song, i. Hawks are whistling, horns are knelling.
1887. Dowden, Shelley, II. xii. 499. The waves began to cry and knell against the rocks.
c. fig. To sound ominously or with ominous effect. Also said allusively in reference to death or extinction. (Cf. KNELL sb. b.)
1816. Scott, Bl. Dwarf, vii. The words of the warlock are knelling in my ears.
1880. G. Meredith, Tragic Com. (1881), 161. Her natural blankness of imagination read his absence as an entire relinquishment: it knelled in a vacant chamber.
4. trans. To summon or call by or as by a knell; to ring (into, etc.).
1800. Coleridge, Christabel, II. 2. Each matin bell, the Baron saith, Knells us back to a world of death.
1831. Lytton, Godolphin, I. xxi. 260. Ladies who become Countesses are knelled into marriage.
b. To proclaim by or as by a knell.
1840. Lady C. Bury, Hist. of Flirt, iii. Mr. Flynn’s requiem was knelled in the hearts of the elders.
1847. Emerson, Poems (1857), 137. Let … the bell of beetle and of bee Knell their melodious memory.
1859. G. Meredith, R. Feverel, x. Benson’s tongue was knelling dinner.
Hence Knelling vbl. sb. and ppl. a.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 279/2. Knyllynge of a belle, tintillacio.
1662. T. W., Thorny Abb., 14. Are these sounds the knelling obsequies You use to keep at a King’s Funerall?
1863. Thornbury, True as Steel, III. 142. The knelling shots of the harquebusses.
1865. Pall Mall Gaz., 12 June, 4. The mournful knelling of the bells from the steeples of Cronstadt and St. Petersburg.
