balla

Forms

balla f (genitive ballae); first declension^[1][2] It is also spelled ⟨bala⟩, ⟨balea⟩ and ⟨bella⟩.^[3][4][1]

Etymology

It is a Germanic word.^[4][3] According to the MLW it is borrowed from Old High German balla;^[1] Köbler gives Old High German bal (“ball”), from Proto-Germanic *ballaz (“ball”), which he takes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to blow, swell”).^[3] The British sources took it from Old French bale.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated use is in the Gascon Rolls of 1242, of a bale of pepper.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In the trade of the later Middle Ages it was the word for a bale or bundle of merchandise, and a measure of cloth:^[1][4][2] the annals of Genoa speak of hundreds of bales of cloth,^[1] and a document of 1288 from Hungary of a bale of dyed cloth.^[2] Du Cange also records it for a hailstone in the chronicle of Parma under 1293, for a playing ball, and, in a life of an Irish saint, for a fence around a spring (there for ⟨valla⟩).^[6] In medical recipes balla marīna was the sea plant eelgrass.^[1]

Neo-Latin kept the trading sense: Petrarch has a book sent among another man's bales, and the printer Plantin writes of packing a bale of books.^[7] English bale comes from Old French ⟨bale⟩, from the same Germanic source.^[8]

Timeline

• 1242 – The Gascon Rolls record a bale of pepper.^[5]
• 1288 – A Hungarian document speaks of a bale of dyed cloth.^[2]
• 1293 – The chronicle of Parma uses it of a hailstone.^[6]
• early 14th century – English bale appears.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A bale, bundle or package of merchandise.^[4][5][1][7]
2. (Medieval Latin) A measure of cloth.^[1][2]
3. (Medieval Latin) A ball, for play; a hailstone.^[6]
4. (Medieval Latin, with marīna) Eelgrass, a sea plant.^[1]

Related words

• English bale
• English ball

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
2. ^ a b c d e Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
7. ^ a b Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com