crotal
nounEtymology Either from French crotale or directly from Latin crotalum. Ultimately from Ancient Greek κρόταλον (krótalon, “clapper”). Doublet of crotalum.
1
A crotalum, a type of clapper used in Ancient Greece.
2
A small round bell or rattle; a jingle bell.
- The earliest type animal bell used was the crotal or sleigh bell. Rather than a round ball as we know it today, it was a birdcage style with pebble rolling around inside.1970, Dorothy Malone Anthony, The World of Bells, page 14:
- The tumuli of most of these people have yielded bells, of both the crotal and swinging-clapper varieties.1978, Nathaniel Spear, A Treasury of Archaeological Bells, page 14: