From Medieval Latin 'clocca' (bell) — the earliest mechanical clocks had no dials, announcing time by sound alone.
A mechanical or electronic device for measuring and displaying the time, typically mounted on a wall or standing on a surface.
From Middle English 'clokke,' from Middle Dutch 'clocke' or Old North French 'cloque,' both meaning 'bell,' from Medieval Latin 'clocca' (bell), itself a borrowing from Old Irish 'cloc' or another Celtic source. The word originally referred to a bell, and was transferred to the timekeeping device because the earliest mechanical clocks had no dials — they simply struck a bell on the hour. The semantic shift from 'bell' to 'timepiece' occurred in the 13th-14th centuries as bell-striking tower
The word 'clock' originally meant 'bell' — the earliest mechanical clocks in 13th-century European churches had no faces or hands at all. They simply rang a bell at each hour, which is also why the French word 'cloche' means 'bell' and the German 'Glocke' still does. The timepiece only got its current name because people told time by listening, not watching
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