balloon English · revision 15005

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1579|origins=gem-pro *ball-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bəˈluːn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|it|ballone]], northern Italian dialect for a large ball (standard [[it|pallone]]), perhaps partly through [[fr|ballon]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) an augmentative of [[m|it|balla|t=ball]], of Germanic origin,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[gem-pro|*ball-]] (see [[ball]]),^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) from [[ine-pro|*bhel-|t=to blow, swell]].^(Etymonline) The ending is [[-oon]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A game played with a large leather ball kept in the air: 1579, in a version of Plutarch's Lives, in Barnhart; 1580 in the OED, the 1570s in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The ball itself is from 1592.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 16th and 17th centuries a balloon could also be a ball-shaped ornament on a pillar (1656) or a firework (1634).^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021) The sense of a large gas-filled bag lifting a basket and passengers came after the Montgolfier brothers' flights of 1782–3, especially the one before the French court at Versailles in September 1783.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)^(OED 1989) The toy balloon is from about 1800 or 1848.^(Cresswell 2021)^(OED 1989) Figuratively, anything inflated and empty is from 1812.^(OED 1989) The verb, to go up in a balloon, is from 1792, and to swell out from 1841.^(Etymonline) ''When the balloon goes up'', when the action starts, is from 1924.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1579 – balloon, a ball game.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1592 – the ball itself.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1634 – a firework.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1783 – a lighter-than-air balloon.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1792 – to balloon (verb).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1924 – when the balloon goes up.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An inflatable rubber bag used as a toy or decoration.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+ # A large bag filled with hot air or a lighter-than-air gas, which rises and can carry a basket or gondola.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To ride in a balloon.^(AHD)

+ # To swell out like a balloon.^(AHD)

+ # To increase rapidly.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Shaped like a balloon.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[balloonist]]

+ * [[balloonlike]]

+ * [[balloonfish]]

+ * [[ballooning]]

+ * [[kytoon]]

+ * [[rockoon]]

+ * [[barrage balloon]]

+ * [[balloon barrage]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ball]]

+ * [[ballot]]

+ * [[-oon]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In obsolete Scots a balloon was the large leather ball of the game.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}