campanile

noun

cam·​pa·​ni·​le ˌkam-pə-ˈnē-lē How to pronounce campanile (audio)
ˌkäm-,
-(ˌ)lā,
especially of US structures also
ˌkam-pə-ˈnēl How to pronounce campanile (audio)
plural campaniles or campanili ˌkam-pə-ˈnē-lē How to pronounce campanile (audio)
ˌkäm-,
-(ˌ)lā
: a usually freestanding bell tower

Illustration of campanile

Illustration of campanile

Examples of campanile in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Singer Building housed a sewing-machine company, but its slender campanile might have served to ring tocsins or watch for approaching armies. Justin Davidson, Curbed, 3 Aug. 2023 Berkeley also appears on track to approve two more towers of comparable size and another that, at 28 stories, will be taller than the university’s famous campanile, which, at 307 feet, has defined the city’s skyline for more than a century. Daniel Duane, New York Times, 30 May 2023 To decorate this campanile, Crow has reportedly ordered sculptures made of his own heroes: Aristotle, free-market economist Milton Friedman and the Roman goddess Fortuna. Christopher Helman, Forbes, 19 Apr. 2023 That campanile? Julia Buckley, CNN, 20 Apr. 2021 Even now, they are marked architecturally by distinctive campanile, or bell-towers, as well as by the sort of sinuously sloping windows, many garlanded by vines, seen in some of Muggia’s private houses. Tara Isbabella Burton, WSJ, 22 Sep. 2021 Calling to you from sea and land alike, the belltower of pretty Piran is a dead ringer for the famous campanile of St Mark's Square. Julia Buckley, CNN, 20 Apr. 2021 Defensive backs meet with a view of the campanile, Cal’s clock tower. John Branch, New York Times, 14 Oct. 2020 The city’s imperial gate was built in 1489—a bit of medieval flair that’s bolstered by the fourteenth-century campanile and the fifteenth-century baptistry. Kenneth R. Rosen, The New Yorker, 27 Feb. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'campanile.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Italian, from campana bell, from Late Latin

First Known Use

1605, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of campanile was in 1605

Dictionary Entries Near campanile

Cite this Entry

“Campanile.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/campanile. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

campanile

noun
cam·​pa·​ni·​le ˌkam-pə-ˈnē-lē How to pronounce campanile (audio) ˌkäm- How to pronounce campanile (audio)
-(ˌ)lā,
 especially of U.S. structures also  ˌkam-pə-ˈnē(ə)l
plural campaniles or campanili
: a bell tower
especially : one built separate from another building

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