The words bell and belfry seem obviously related, but in fact the belâ€“ portion of belfry had nothing to do with bells until comparatively recently. Belfry goes back to a compound formed in prehistoric Common Germanic. It is generally agreed that the second part of this compound is the element *frijâ€“, meaning â€œpeace, safety.â€Â The first element is either *bergan, â€œto protect,â€Â which would yield a compound meaning â€œa defensive place of shelter,â€Â or *bergâ€“, â€œa high place,â€Â which would yield a compound meaning â€œa high place of safety, tower.â€Â Whatever the meaning of the original Germanic source, its Old French descendant berfrei, which first meant â€œsiege tower,â€Â came to mean â€œwatchtower.â€Â Presumably because bells were used in these towers, the word was applied to bell towers as well. The Old North French alteration belfroi, which reminded English speakers of their native word belle (our bell), entered Middle English with the sense â€œbell tower,â€Â first recorded in 1272.<br />
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I will let jbond post the next question.........