Ball

Ball¹ ball, sphere

Pronunciation

• /bal/^[4]

Forms

Ball m (genitive Balles or Balls, plural Bälle, diminutive Bällchen n)^[4]

Etymology

The round object is inherited from Middle High German bal, inherited from Old High German bal, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *ballu, inherited from Proto-Germanic *balluz.^[1][4][5] The same word is Old Norse bǫllr (“ball”), Dutch bal and Swedish boll, and Old English bealluc (“testicle”) is a derivative.^[1][6] Kluge counts English ball among them, while Duden 7 takes it as a loan from French balle.^[1][7] Beside it stood a weak noun of the same meaning, ballo, balle, which was set apart only in New High German as Ballen; weak forms of the strong noun survived in the oblique cases until about 1800.^[1][5] Kroonen takes the n-stem as the older formation, and the u-stem of the Nordic languages as split off from its accusative plural.^[6]

Outside Germanic the nearest match is Latin follis (“bellows, inflated ball”), beside Ancient Greek φαλλός (phallós, “penis”) and Old Irish ball (“member”).^[1][5][6] They are traced to Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to swell, inflate”), so the word first meant “something blown up or swollen”;^[5][7] Kluge sees in the root a sound gesture for puffed cheeks.^[1] Through Lombard the Germanic word passed into Italian palla, whose augmentative is the source of Ballon.^[5][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first certain record is from the 9th century, an Old High German gloss pal for Latin pila “ball”, and Kluge mentions an uncertain one from the 8th century.^[1][9][8] The word meant a ball or sphere, and also a lump or the ball of the hand.^[10] A 12th-century gloss explains it as the pila quo utuntur mulieres in ludo, “which women use in play”, for at first the ball game was a pastime of women.^[1]

Semantic evolution

The game itself came from French with its name: a 13th-century poem, Athis und Prophilias, says dit spil was geheizin bal in rōmischer zungin, “this game was called bal in the Romance tongue”.^[1] It was first played with stuffed leather balls; hollow balls filled with air spread from northern Italy in the 15th century.^[1] Pfeifer dates Ballspiel to the 14th century, and a 13th-century manuscript already has Old High German slegibalspil.^[5]

The word was transferred to the earth as Erdball, recorded by Stieler, and Spielball came to mean a person or thing tossed about by others.^[11][8] In sport Ball also names the game itself in compounds such as Handball and Fußball.^[11]

Timeline

• 9th century – Old High German pal glosses Latin pila.^[1][8]
• 11th century – The weak noun ballo is recorded.^[5]
• 12th century – A gloss describes the ball as used by women at play.^[1]
• 13th century – Athis und Prophilias names the ball game as a French one.^[1]
• 14th century – Ballspiel is first recorded.^[5]
• 15th century – Air-filled balls spread from northern Italy.^[1]
• c. 1800 – Weak forms of Ball go out of use.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ball, a round object, usually filled with air and elastic, used as a toy or in sport: Die Kinder werfen sich den Ball zu.^[12][4] Idioms: am Ball bleiben “to keep at it”;^[12] den Ball flach halten “to keep a low profile”, from football tactics.^[12]
2. (ball games) A shot, throw or kick, especially at goal: Die Torhüterin hielt jeden Ball.^[12][4]
3. (tennis, baseball) A point.^[12]
4. A sphere, a ball-shaped object: ein Ball aus Garn.^[12]

Word family

• Fußball
• Handball
• Erdball
• Spielball
• Ballspiel
• Schneeball
• Federball

Ball² dance

Etymology tree of Ball²

inherited borrowed derived

French bal

English ball

English volleyball

English baseball

German Ball

Pronunciation

• /bal/^[4]

Forms

Ball m (genitive Balles or Balls, plural Bälle)^[4]

Etymology

The dance is borrowed from French bal, borrowed in the 17th century.^[2][3][13] The French noun is formed to baler (“to dance”), from Late Latin ballō (“to dance”).^[2][13][3] The Latin verb is compared with Ancient Greek βαλλίζω (ballízō, “to dance, jump about”), but Kluge finds a loan from Greek hard to accept because the stems are formed differently;^[2] Duden 7 and the DFWB trace it through the Greek verb to βάλλω (bállō, “to throw”).^[3][13] The same loan is Dutch bal, English ball, Swedish bal and Icelandic ball.^[2] The Grimms' dictionary already held it to be unrelated to the native word for a sphere.^[14]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a report from Paris of 1614: Allhie ist ein stattlich Ballen oder Dantz gehalten worden, “here a stately ball or dance has been held”.^[13][15] The word is found now and then from the early 17th century and continuously from the late 17th.^[13]

Semantic evolution

At first it was often used of French conditions, for a formal dance at court or in high society, with its etiquette, its full dress or masks.^[13] Stieler gave it as a neuter noun to keep it apart from the native word, while Frisch already made it masculine.^[14] Until the 18th century French phrases were common and were partly translated, as Bal masqué by Maskenball;^[13] Bal paré “full-dress ball” is still used.^[13] Adelung records den Ball eröffnen “to open the ball”, to dance the first dance.^[11] Hungarian took the word as bál in 1651.^[16]

Timeline

• 1614 – First record, in a report from Paris.^[13]
• 1651 – Hungarian bál is borrowed from German.^[16]
• Late 17th century – The word is in continuous use.^[13]
• 18th century – French phrases give way to German compounds such as Maskenball.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ball, a large and usually festive dance event: Zum Ball der Feuerwehr kamen dreihundert Gäste.^[4][13]

Word family

• Maskenball
• Ballsaal
• Ballkleid
• Abschlussball