bald English · revision 16169

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1300 (balled); before 1292 in a surname}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bɔːld/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|balled]] (also [[m|enm|ballede]]), of uncertain origin.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Most dictionaries take it as a formation with the adjective suffix ''[[-ed]]'' on a base meaning a white patch or blaze on an animal's head,^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)^(ODE 2010)^(Ayto 2005) compare [[cy|bal|t=having a white mark on the forehead (of a horse)]], [[ga|ball|t=spot, mark]] and [[br|bal|t=white mark on an animal's face]];^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2024)^(ODE 2010) Barnhart thinks the base probably Celtic,^(Barnhart 1988) and Hoad suggests an Old English [[m|ang|*bællede]].^(Hoad 1986) Through the idea of "white, shining" it has been linked with [[grc|φαλός|tr=phalós|t=white]], [[la|fulica|t=coot]] and [[ine-pro|*bʰel-|t=to shine]].^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024) The OED and SOED also consider a derivation from ''[[ball]]'', "rounded, smooth", since the first recorded sense is "rotund",^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) but Barnhart notes that examples of that development are lacking.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ ''Bal-'' appears in a surname before 1292,^(Barnhart 1988) and ''balled'' about 1300.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The OED's first example (1297, Robert of Gloucester) seems to mean rotund or corpulent;^(OED 2026) lacking hair on the head is from about 1386, in Chaucer's ''General Prologue''.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Barnhart finds the sense "having a white spot or blaze", used of animals, before 1325, especially in ''balled coot'', a bird with a white mark on its forehead,^(Barnhart 1988) and the ''[[bald eagle]]'', named for its white head, is from the 1680s.^(Etymonline) Transferred uses spread to anything lacking its natural covering: hairless parts of the body (before 1400), bare trees and hills and napless cloth (Shakespeare),^(OED 2026) and worn tyres (by 1930).^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026) Figuratively it meant meagre in the 14th century, without ornament in the 16th and open or undisguised in the 19th.^(Etymonline) In northern and western English dialects ''bald'' or ''balled'' still meant white-faced or piebald, of animals.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1292 – ''Bal-'' in a surname.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1300 – ''balled'', hairless.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1325 – having a white blaze.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1386 – hairless on the head, in Chaucer.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1680s – ''bald eagle''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1838 – a ''bald'', a treeless summit (US).^(MWU 2024)

+ * by 1930 – of a worn tyre.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Having little or no [[hair]] on the [[scalp]].^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Lacking a natural covering, such as plants or leaves; of a [[tyre]], having a worn [[tread]].^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Plain and blunt, without elaboration: ''a bald statement''.^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of some birds and animals, having white markings on the head.^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To become bald.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[baldly]]

+ * [[baldness]]

+ * [[baldish]]

+ * [[bald-faced]]

+ * [[baldhead]]

+ * [[baldheaded]]

+ * [[baldie]]

+ * [[balding]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[piebald]]

+ * [[skewbald]]

+ * [[ball]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}