carillon

/ˈkɛrəˌlɑn/

Other forms: carillons

If you wake up in the morning to bells coming from a nearby church tower, the instrument that is being played is a carillon. A carillon is simply a set of bells in a tower.

The Old French ancestor of this word is carignon. The car part of this word traces back to the Latin word for "four," so a carignon was a set of four bells. Today, however, a carillon can have many many bells. Though you might picture someone playing it by pulling giant strings one after another, it is usually played by a keyboard that controls the bells. Some play automatically, with notes etched into a metal roll like you might find on a player piano (also called a pianola).

Definitions of carillon

1. noun

   set of bells hung in a bell tower
   type of:

   bell, chime, gong

   a percussion instrument consisting of a set of tuned bells that are struck with a hammer; used as an orchestral instrument
2. noun

   playing a set of bells that are (usually) hung in a tower
   synonyms: bell ringing, carillon playing

   types:

   change ringing

   ringing tuned bells in a fixed order that is continually changing

   type of:

   music

   musical activity (singing or whistling etc.)