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Origin and history of clapper

clapper(n.)

late 13c., "something which strikes with a loud, sharp noise," agent noun from clap (v.). Meaning "tongue of a bell" is from late 14c. Old English had clipur. Meaning "hinged board snapped in front of a camera at the start of filming to synchronize picture and sound" is from 1940.

Clappering.—It is still necessary to warn clergymen and churchwardens against allowing the lazy and pernicious practice of 'clappering,' i.e. tying the bell-rope to the clapper, and pulling it instead of the bell. More bells have been cracked in that way than by all other causes together, and there is not the least excuse for it .... [Sir Edmund Beckett, "A Rudimentary Treatise on Clocks and Watches and Bells," London, 1883]

also from late 13c.

Entries linking to clapper

clap(v.)

c. 1300, "to strike with a quick, sharp motion, to slap," from Old English clæppan "to throb, beat," or from or influenced by its Old Norse cognate, klappa, a common Germanic echoic verb (compare Old Frisian klapa "to beat," Old High German klaphon, German klappen, Old Saxon klapunga).

Meaning "to make a sharp noise" is late 14c. Of hands, "to beat together to get attention or express joy," from late 14c. Without specific mention of hands, "to applaud, to manifest approbation by striking the hands together," 1610s. To clap (someone) on the back is from 1520s and retains the older sense. Related: Clapped; clapping.

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    tongue
     Old English tunge "tongue, organ of speech; speech, a people's language," from Proto-Germanic *tungō (source also of Old Saxon and Old Norse tunga, Old Frisian tunge, Middle Dutch tonghe, Dutch tong, Old High German zunga, German Zunge, Gothic tuggo), from PIE root *dnghu-
    golf
    alteration of Middle Dutch colf, colve "stick, club, bat," from Proto-Germanic *kulth- (source also of Old Norse kolfr "clapper...
    cowbell
    As a musical instrument (without the clapper) by 1919; in that period associated with, and scorned as an absurdity of, jazz...
    mouth
    Old English muþ "oral opening of an animal or human; opening of anything, door, gate," from Proto-Germanic *muntha- (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian muth, Old Norse munnr, Danish mund, Middle Dutch mont, Dutch mond, Old High German mund, German Mund, Gothic munþs "mouth"),
    organ
    fusion of late Old English organe, and Old French orgene (12c.), both meaning "musical instrument," both from Latin organa, plural of organum "a musical instrument," from Greek organon "implement, tool for making or doing; musical instrument; organ of sense, organ of the body," l
    groan
    Old English granian "to utter a deep, low-toned breath expressive of grief or pain; to murmur; to lament," from Proto-Germanic *grain- (source also of Old Norse grenja "to howl"), of imitative origin, or related to grin (v.). Meaning "complain" is from early 13c., especially in M
    argon
    chemical element, 1894, Modern Latin, from Greek argon, neuter of argos "lazy, idle, not working the ground, living without labor," from a- "without" (see a- (3)) + ergon "work" (from PIE root *werg- "to do"). So called by its discoverers, Baron Rayleigh and Sir William Ramsay, f
    bell
    "hollow metallic instrument which rings when struck," Old English belle, which has cognates in Middle Dutch belle, Middle Low German belle but is not found elsewhere in Germanic (except as a borrowing); perhaps from an imitative PIE root *bhel- "to sound, roar" (compare Old Engli
    pharynx
    "musculo-membranous pouch at the back of the nasal cavities, mouth, and larynx," 1690s, from Greek pharynx (genitive pharyngos) " throat, joint opening of the windpipe," which is related to pharanx "cleft, chasm, gully, deep trench;" all of uncertain origin; Beekes suggests Pre-G

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