ball

ball · noun, verb, interjection¹

1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰel-
2. Proto-Germanic*balluz
3. Old English*beall
4. Middle Englishbal
5. English todayball

From Middle English bal, ball, balle, from an unattested Old English *beall, *bealla (“round object, ball”), from Proto-Germanic *balluz, *ballô (“ball”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰol-n- (“ball, bubble”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to blow, inflate, swell”). Cognate with Old Saxon ball, Dutch bal, Old High German bal, ballo (German Ball (“ball”); Ballen (“bale”)). Related forms in Romance are borrowings from Germanic. See also balloon, bale.

ball · noun²

1. Proto-Indo-European*gʷelH-
2. Late Latinballō
3. Old Frenchballer
4. Middle Frenchbaler
5. Middle Frenchbal
6. English todayball

From Middle French bal, from Middle French baler (“to dance”), from Old French baller, from Late Latin ballō (“to dance”). Doublet of baile.

Ball · proper noun³

1. Cornish · derived fromPelen
2. English todayBall

Multiple theories and origins. * From a short form of the Middle English given name Baldwin. * A toponymic surname for a person that lives near a knoll or rounded hill (i.e. somewhere shaped like a ball). * From the Old Norse given name Balle. * A habitational surname for a person from Ball, Cornwall, from Cornish Pelen.

Words from the same roots