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sonneur

bell-ringer

noun soh-NER Rare
Arts & Culture Music

Also means

bugler

Usage Note

Sonneur traditionally refers to a church bell-ringer (sonneur de cloches) or, in a military context, a bugler or horn player. The word is familiar from Victor Hugo's Notre-Dame de Paris, whose protagonist Quasimodo is the famous sonneur de cloches. The feminine sonneuse exists but is rare.

Examples

"Le sonneur de cloches montait chaque matin au clocher."

Natural Translation

The bell-ringer climbed the bell tower every morning.

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