Ding"dong` the"o*ry. (Philol.)
The theory
which maintains that the primitive elements of language are reflex
expressions induced by sensory impressions; that is, as stated by Max
Müller, the creative faculty gave to each general conception as
it thrilled for the first time through the brain a phonetic
expression; -- jocosely so called from the analogy of the sound of a
bell induced by the stroke of the clapper.
© Webster 1913.