ballon

Forms

ballon m (plural ballons)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian ballone, the northern Italian form of pallone (“big ball”).^[2][3][4] The Italian word is formed from palla (“ball”) with the augmentative suffix -one.^[2][4][5] The FEW files it with balle¹ “ball”, whose source it takes to be Germanic.^[6] In the Middle Ages a ball for playing was a pelote or an esteuf; from the 16th century the new word and the ball word replaced them.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rabelais uses it in 1549 for a large bomb set off in fireworks, a use that remained isolated; the usual sense “big ball for playing” is recorded from 1557.^[2][4][7]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the inflated ball was a familiar image: Ronsard writes of balls bounding across the meadows, and La Noue compares the flatterer's empty words, which puff up the soul, to the air in a ballon.^[8] From the 17th century the word was applied to things of similar shape: a round vessel in chemistry (1690), then a round drinking glass, the verre ballon, and by metonymy its contents, as in un ballon de rouge.^[2] In Swiss French it also names a small round loaf.^[2]

In 1783 it became the usual name of the balloon or aerostat, alone and in phrases such as ballon dirigeable and ballon d'essai, a small balloon sent up to find the wind's direction and, figuratively, a trial launched to test opinion.^[2][7][9] In the 20th century came ballon d'oxygène, which took the figurative sense “something that keeps one going”, and the breathalyser ballon of about 1960.^[2][9] The sense “speech bubble” in comic strips (about 1950) is a calque of the American English balloon.^[2][9] With the spread of team sports, ballon rond and ballon ovale came to stand for football and rugby.^[2]

English balloon (1570s) is mainly from Italian pallone, perhaps partly from the French word,^[5] and English ballon “lightness in dancing” (1830) is from French.^[5]

Timeline

• 1549 – Rabelais uses it for a large firework bomb.^[2][7]
• 1557 – First record as a large ball for games.^[2][4][3]
• 1570s – English balloon is recorded, chiefly from Italian.^[5]
• 1690 – It names a round flask in chemistry.^[2]
• 1783 – It is used for the aerostat.^[2][7][3]
• 1838 – The Académie's supplement records the dancer's ballon, lightness in leaping.^[10]
• Early 20th century – Ballon d'oxygène appears in medicine.^[2]
• About 1950 – It is used for the speech bubble of comic strips, after American English.^[2][9]
• About 1960 – Ballon is used for the breathalyser bag.^[2][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ball for games and sports, an inflated bladder covered with leather or rubber: ballon rond (football), ballon ovale (rugby).^[9][4][2]
2. A light toy balloon of thin rubber filled with gas or air.^[9]
3. A gas-filled aerostat: ballon dirigeable, ballon captif, as in Ils ont survolé la vallée en ballon.^[9][8]
4. Ballon d'essai: a small balloon sent up to find the wind's direction;^[9][8] (figurative) a trial balloon, an experiment made to test opinion.^[9][8]
5. Ballon d'eau chaude: a hot-water cylinder.^[9]
6. (chemistry) A round glass flask.^[9][1]
7. A round, stemmed wine glass, and its contents: un ballon de rouge.^[9][2]
8. Ballon d'oxygène: an oxygen bag for reviving someone;^[9][2] (figurative) something that gives fresh breath to a person or business.^[9][2]
9. The bag one blows into for a breathalyser test: souffler dans le ballon.^[9]
10. A speech bubble in a comic strip.^[9][2]

Word family

• ballon-sonde
• ballonnet
• ballonner
• ballonnement

Related words

• balle¹
• balloune
• Italian pallone
• English balloon

Usage notes

The Grand Robert has two further words spelled ballon.^[4] Its second ballon is a slang word for “prison”, recorded in 1871, which Esnault derives from emballer “to take away”, under the influence of the ball word.^[4] Its third ballon (1561) is a rounded mountain of the Vosges, as in Ballon d'Alsace; it is not a metaphor from the ball but probably a calque of the German Belchen, understood by folk etymology as Bällchen “little ball”.^{[4][2][11][3]} Littré also has an unrelated ballon, a many-oared river boat of Siam.^[8] In Quebec French the English word appears as balloune, for a child's balloon or a soap bubble.^[2]

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 q r s t u v w x Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/1, 41a
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
11. ^ Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard