Etymology

beachball

B3E1A1C3H4B3A1L1L1

Today it means: To hang; to stop responding to user input. Full definition →

English ball ← Middle English bal ← Old English *beall
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeg-
  2. Proto-Germanic*bakiz
  3. Proto-West Germanic*baki
  4. Old Englishbæċ
  5. Middle Englishbache
  6. Englishbeach
  7. Proto-Indo-European*bʰel-
  8. Proto-Germanic*balluz
  9. Old English*beall
  10. Middle Englishbal
  11. Englishball
  12. English todaybeachball

From beach + ball. For the computing sense, because Mac computers indicate waiting with a spinning coloured cursor like a beach ball.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.