bal

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bal/^[1]

Forms

bal m (plural bals)^[1]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from Old French baller (“to dance”) (about 1165),^{[2][3][4][5][6][1]} which is inherited from Late Latin ballō (“to dance”) (Saint Augustine).^[2][3][4][7] The Latin verb is related in sense to Greek Ancient Greek βαλλίζω (ballízō, “to jig about, dance”), recorded in Sicily and Magna Graecia, but its form is closer to βάλλω (bállō, “to throw”), of which “ballízō” seems to be a derivative;^[2][3] Rey traces “bállō” to an Indo-European root also seen in Sanskrit.^[2]

Cognate with Italian ballo, Occitan bal, Catalan ball and Spanish baile.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the 12th century bal means a dance: the Girart de Roussillon finds a thousand people as tresches e mil au bal.^[8][2][3]

Semantic evolution

Bal meant “dance” until the 16th century.^[2][3] By metonymy, from 1228, it became a gathering for dancing, the present sense, and also from 1794 also the place where people go to dance.^[2][5] Customs and styles of dancing gave many phrases: bal masqué, bal costumé, bal public, bal musette, bal populaire, the carnet de bal in which ladies wrote their partners' names, and ouvrir le bal “to be the first to dance”, figuratively “to lead the way”.^[2][9][5]

The verb baller went out of use in the late 17th century, surviving only in the participle ballant “dangling”.^[2][3]

Timeline

• c. 1165 – Baller “to dance”.^[2]
• 1150–1200 – Bal “a dance”.^[2][4]
• 1228 – A gathering for dancing.^[2]
• 16th century – The sense “dance” fades.^[2][3]
• late 17th century – Baller goes out of use.^[2][3]
• 1794 – A dance hall.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ball, a dance; a gathering where people dance: bal masqué, bal populaire.^[9][10]
2. A dance hall.^[5][2]
3. Ouvrir le bal: to dance first^[9][5]; (figurative) to lead the way.^[9][5]

Related words

• ballet
• ballade
• baladin
• English ball

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 218a
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)