ˈbelfrē, -ri noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle English belfray tower, bell tower, alteration (influenced by Middle English belle bell or Medieval Latin belfredus tower) of berefreid, berfrey, from Old French berfrei, from Middle High German bervrit, probably from Medieval Latin berfredus, belfredus, balfredus, perhaps from an (assumed) Latin word derived from Greek pyrgos phorētos movable war tower
1.
a. : bell tower ; especially : one surmounting or attached to another structure — compare campanile , carillon
b. obsolete : the bell ringer's floor or room under the bells in a tower
c.
(1) : a room in which the bell is hung in a tower
(2) : a cupola, turret, or framework designed to enclose a bell
d. : the framing by which a ship's bell is suspended
2. slang : head : mental capacities
man's cocksureness that he was master of his own belfry — Newsweek
— see bat III