chime

Chime comes from Middle English chymbe or chyme, probably from Old Northern French chimbe, meaning cymbal, itself a back-formation from chimble or cimble, from Latin cymbalum. The spelling may have been reinforced by a Middle English mishearing of a word for cymbal as if it were 'chime bell.'

The word seems to have shifted from naming the instrument itself — a cymbal — to naming the ringing sound bells make, possibly nudged along by people hearing 'cymbal' and thinking of a 'chime bell' instead.

Chime shares a root with cymbal, both tracing back to Latin cymbalum.