CHIME. (I) Probably derived from a mistaken separation into two words, chimbe bell, of chymbal or chymbel, the old form of "cymbal," Lat. cymbalum. A mechanical arrangement by which a set of bells in a church or other tower, or in a clock, are struck so as to produce a sequence of musical sounds or a tune. (For the mechanism of such an arrangement in a clock and in a set of bells, see the articles CLOCK and BELL.) (2) From Mid. Eng. chimb, a word meaning "edge," common in varied forms to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Kimme, the bevelled rim formed by the pro jecting staves at the ends of a cask.