Meanings
plural volleyballs · alternative volley-ball · alternative humorous bolleyball
- countableThe inflated ball used in such a game.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna game in which two teams hit an inflated ball over a high net using their hands
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Englishvolley
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰel-
- Proto-Germanic*balluz
- Old English*beall
- Middle Englishbal
- Englishball
- Englishvolleyball
From volley + ball. In 1895, in Holyoke, Massachusetts, William G. Morgan created a new game called Mintonette, a name derived from the game of badminton. After an observer, Alfred Halstead, noticed the volleying nature of the game at its first exhibition match in 1896, played at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfield College), the game quickly became known as volleyball (it was originally spelled as two words: "volley ball")
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans vlugbal, vlugbal
- vlugbalball used to play the game
- vlugbalgame
Arabic الْكُرَة الطَّائِرَة
- الْكُرَة الطَّائِرَة (al-kura ṭ-ṭāʔira)game
Basque boleibol
- boleibolgame
Bengali ভলিবল
- ভলিবল (bholibol)game
Bulgarian во́лейбол
- во́лейбол (vólejbol)game
Catalan voleibol, vòlei
- voleibolgame
- vòleigame
Chinese Cantonese 排球
- 排球 (paai⁴ kau⁴)game
Chinese Mandarin 排球, 排球
- 排球 (páiqiú)ball used to play the game
- 排球 (páiqiú)game
Czech volejbalový míč, volejbal
- volejbalový míčball used to play the game
- volejbalgame
- odbíjenágame
Danish volleyball
- volleyballgame
Dutch volleybal, volleybal
- volleybalball used to play the game
- volleybalgame
Esperanto flugpilko, flugpilkado
- flugpilkoball used to play the game
- flugpilkadogame
- retpilkogame
- volejbalogame
- flugpilkogame
Estonian võrkpall
- võrkpallgame
Finnish lentopallo, lentopallo
- lentopalloball used to play the game
- lentopallogame
French balle de volley, volley-ball
- balle de volleyball used to play the game
- volley-ballgame
German Volleyball, Volleyball
- Volleyballball used to play the game
- Volleyballgame
Greek πετόσφαιρα, πετοσφαίριση
- πετόσφαιρα (petósfaira)ball used to play the game
- πετοσφαίριση (petosfaírisi)game
- βόλλεϋ (vólleÿ)game
- βόλεϊ (vóleï)game
Hebrew כַּדוּרעָף
- כַּדוּרעָף (kadur'áf)game
Hindi वॉलीबाल, वॉलीबॉल
- वॉलीबाल (vŏlībāl)game
- वॉलीबॉल (vŏlībŏl)game
Hungarian röplabda, röplabda
- röplabdaball used to play the game
- röplabdagame
Icelandic blakbolti, blak
- blakboltiball used to play the game
- blakgame
Indonesian bola voli
- bola voligame
Irish eitpheil, eitpheil
- eitpheilball used to play the game
- eitpheilgame
Italian pallavolo, palla a volo
- pallavologame
- palla a vologame
- volleygame
Japanese バレーボールボール, バレーボール
- バレーボールボール (barēbōrubōru)ball used to play the game
- バレーボール (barēbōru)game
- 排球 (haikyū)game
Korean 배구공, 배구
- 배구공 (baegugong)ball used to play the game
- 배구 (baegu)game
- 발리볼 (ballibol)game
Latin follis volitatis
- follis volitatisgame
Latvian volejbols
- volejbolsgame
Lithuanian tinklinis
- tinklinisgame
Malay bola tampar
- bola tampargame
Māori poirewa
- poirewagame
Norwegian Bokmål volleyball
- volleyballgame
Persian والیبال
- والیبال (vâlibâl)game
Polish piłka siatkowa, piłka do siatkówki
- piłka siatkowaball used to play the game
- piłka do siatkówkiball used to play the game
- siatkówkagame
- piłka siatkowagame
- siatkagame
- siatagame
Portuguese bola de vôlei/vólei, voleibol
- bola de vôlei/vóleiball used to play the game
- voleibolgame
- vóleigame
- vôleigame
Romanian volei
- voleigame
Russian волейбо́льный мяч, волейбо́л
- волейбо́льный мяч (volejbólʹnyj mjač)ball used to play the game
- волейбо́л (volejból)game
Slovak volejbal
- volejbalgame
Spanish balón voleibolista, pelota de vóleibol
- balón voleibolistaball used to play the game
- pelota de vóleibolball used to play the game
- bola de balonvoleaball used to play the game
- voleibolgame
- balonvoleagame
- vóleibolgame
- vóleygame
Swahili voliboli, voliboli
- voliboliball used to play the game
- voliboligame
Swedish volleyboll, volleyboll
- volleybollball used to play the game
- volleybollgame
Tagalog volleyball, balibol
- volleyballgame
- balibolgame
Thai วอลเลย์บอล
- วอลเลย์บอล (wɔn-lêe-bɔn)game
Turkish voleybol topu, voleybol
- voleybol topuball used to play the game
- voleybolgame
Ukrainian волейбо́льний м’яч, м’яч до відби́ванки
- волейбо́льний м’яч (volejbólʹnyj mʺjač)ball used to play the game
- м’яч до відби́ванки (mʺjač do vidbývanky)ball used to play the game
- волейбо́л (volejból)game
- відби́ванка (vidbývanka)game
Urdu والی بال
- والی بال (vālī bāl)game
Vietnamese bóng chuyền
- bóng chuyềngame
Welsh pêl-foli, pêl-foli
- pêl-foliball used to play the game
- pêl-foligame
Cite this entry
volleyball. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/volleyball
“volleyball.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/volleyball. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “volleyball,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/volleyball.
Source: volleyball on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.