/kar"euh lon', -leuhn/ or, esp. Brit., /keuh ril"yeuhn/ , n.
1. a set of stationary bells hung in a tower and sounded by manual or pedal action, or by machinery.
2. a set of horizontal metal plates, struck by hammers, used in the modern orchestra.
[ 1765-75; car ( e ) ignon, quarregnon quadrinion-, re-formation of LL quaternion- QUATERNION; presumably orig. a set of four bells ]