bala

Forms

bala f (plural balas)^[1]

Etymology

In the sense “bale of goods” it is borrowed from French balle (“bale”), which reached Spanish through Catalan, where the word is recorded from 1249.^[2][3][4][1] The French word comes from Frankish *balla (“ball”), related to Old High German balla and German Ball.^[2][3][4] Bénaben calls the French etymology uncertain.^[5]

In the sense “bullet” (1595) it is borrowed from Italian palla (“ball for games; bullet”), with the ⟨b⟩ of the word for a bale.^[2][3] The Italian word is from Lombardic *palla, a dialect form of the same Germanic word.^[2][6] Gómez de Silva and Bénaben derive the bullet sense from a regional Italian variant balla.^[7][5] French balle “ball, bullet”, from 1534, was also taken from the Italian.^[2][8] Covarrubias traced the word to Ancient Greek βάλλω (bállō, “to throw”), and the Academy from 1884 to 1899 to Latin pila.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DCECH dates the word for a bale to the end of the 13th century, in the Aragonese law compilation Vidal Mayor; the DEMel dates that text c. 1250.^[2][3][11] A customs tariff granted by James I to Valencia (1240) already charges IV solidos on a bala.^[12] The earliest example in the Academy's historical dictionary is the Seville ordinances of 1527.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Nebrija recorded bala de viento, a ball filled with air, Latin follis.^[13][2] The sense “bullet” is first found in José de Sigüenza in 1595.^[2][3] Covarrubias in 1611 defined bala as the ball loaded into artillery and arquebuses and knew the Italian use for a tight bundle of cloth, paper or books.^[9] Autoridades gave the ball of iron, lead or stone fired from guns, the bale of goods carried on ships, and a hollow wax ball filled with scented water, thrown at carnival.^[14]

In the Americas the word was used in 1516 in Puerto Rico for a bale of paper.^[15] Several countries now use bala for the shot of the shot put, and Mexico and Chile for a very capable person.^[16][4] In Spain un bala or bala perdida is a reckless pleasure-seeker.^[4]

Timeline

• 1240 – a customs tariff of James I for Valencia charges duty on a bala.^[12]
• 1250–1300 – bala “bale” in the Vidal Mayor.^[2][11]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija records bala de viento “ball”.^[13]
• 1516 – a bala of paper in Puerto Rico, the first record from the Americas.^[15]
• 1527 – the Seville ordinances use the word for a bale.^[2]
• 1595 – José de Sigüenza uses bala for a projectile.^[2][3]
• 1611 – Covarrubias defines the ball of artillery and derives it from Greek.^[9]
• 1726 – the Diccionario de Autoridades gives the bullet, the bale and the carnival wax ball.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bullet: a round or pointed projectile of lead or iron fired from a gun.^[4][1]
2. A bale of goods pressed tight, especially one shipped by sea.^[4]
3. (printing) A bundle of ten reams of paper.^[4]
4. (Colombia, Cuba, Uruguay) The metal ball thrown in the shot put.^[4][16]
5. (Costa Rica) An aggressive long black ant with yellow spots.^[4]
6. (Mexico) A very capable person.^[4][16]
7. (Spain) A reckless pleasure-seeker; see balarrasa.^[4]

Word family

• embalar
• embalaje
• balazo
• balear

Related words

• balón
• French balle
• Italian palla

Usage notes

Bala perdida is a stray bullet and, colloquially, a reckless person;^[1] bala de gas is a butane cylinder in Cuba.^[4] In Spain the sense “reckless person” is used for both sexes (un bala, una bala).^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 462
3. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. bala
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. bala
5. ^ a b Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. bala
6. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier, p. s.v. palla
7. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 107
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. balle
9. ^ a b c Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 269
10. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 130
11. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. bala
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. bala
13. ^ a b Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 301
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 1, 532
15. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. bala
16. ^ a b c Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. bala