balle French · revision 17200

+ French has several words spelled ''balle'': the ball, borrowed from Italian, and the bale of goods, from Frankish; a third, rarer ''balle'' is the husk of cereal grains.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

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+ {{homograph|1|ball}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1534, Rabelais|origins=lng *balla}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bal/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''balle''' ''f'' (plural balles)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ The ball is [[bor|it|balla]], the northern Italian form of [[m|it|palla|t=ball for the game of tennis]], which also came to mean the projectile of a firearm.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Rey derives the Italian word, with a narrower sense, from [[lng|*balla]], a Germanic word meaning “bundle, packet”, the same that came into French through Frankish as “balle” “bale”.^(DHLF 1992)^(REW 1935) Littré compared [[goh|balla]], [[de|Ball]], [[en|ball]] and [[non|böllr]].^(Littré 1873) Wiktionary calls the two French words doublets.^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Rabelais lists the game in ''Gargantua'' (1534): Gargantua ''jouoit à la grosse balle'', kicking and punching it into the air.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It drove out the older ''pelote'' and ''éteuf'' for the ball used in games.^(DHLF 1992) Furetière (1690) records ''prendre la balle au bond'' “to seize an opportunity” and ''à vous la balle'' “your turn to speak”, and ''renvoyer la balle'' “to retort” is found in 1719.^(DHLF 1992) An ''enfant de la balle'' was first a tennis player's son brought up in the game, then a child of actors or circus people.^(GLLF 1989)

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+ Rabelais also used it for a cannonball, a sense that lasted until the 18th century; the bullet of a hand gun dates from the end of the 16th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) In slang it meant a pound (1655), then a franc (1797), now sometimes a euro, after a number (''cent balles''); ''à deux balles'' means cheap, worthless.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) Under English influence it is used for the ball in football or basketball, and young people's ''c'est de la balle'' “it's great” is recorded in 1996.^(DHLF 1992)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1534 – Rabelais' ''Gargantua''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 16th century – A cannonball, Rabelais.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * Late 16th century – A bullet.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1655 – Slang “pound”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1690 – ''Prendre la balle au bond'', Furetière.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1797 – Slang “franc”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1873 – ''Pare-balles''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1996 – ''C'est de la balle''.^(DHLF 1992)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|ball]], a small elastic sphere used in games: ''balle de tennis'', ''jouer à la balle''; in football and other sports, the ball.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # A shot, a stroke in a ball game: ''balle de match'', ''faire des balles''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A [[m|en|bullet]]: ''une balle perdue'', ''gilet pare-balles''.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(slang)'' A franc; now, a euro: ''cent balles'', ''à deux balles'', cheap.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # In phrases: ''prendre la balle au bond'', ''se renvoyer la balle'', to pass the buck, ''enfant de la balle''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pare-balles]]

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+ {{homograph|2|bale}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1268 (bale)|origins=frk *balla}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bal/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''balle''' ''f'' (plural balles)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The bale is [[bor|frk|*balla|t=bundle, packet]], according to Wartburg, Rey, the Petit Robert and Larousse also take it from Frankish, which brought the word into French with its own sense.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)^(FEW|15/1, 40a) Littré thought it the same word as the ball, a bundle being something rounded.^(Littré 1873) [[es|bala]] and [[pt|bala]] are borrowed from French.^(REW 1935)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ ''Bale'' is found in 1268 for a large bundle of goods.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It named large packs of goods wrapped in cloth and tied with cords, such as bales of cotton or coffee, and in farming the bales of hay or straw that replaced haystacks.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse) Familiarly it once meant the face (1833).^(Petit Robert 2007) It gave [[emballer]] and [[déballer]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1268 – ''Bale'', a bundle of goods.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ * 1833 – Familiar “face”.^(Petit Robert 2007)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|bale]], large bundle of goods wrapped and tied: ''une balle de coton'', ''de café''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # A bale of hay or straw.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(familiar, dated)'' The face.^(Petit Robert 2007)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[emballer]]

+ * [[déballer]]

+ * [[ballot]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ballon]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ A third ''balle'', also written ''bale'' or ''bâle'', is the husk of cereal grains; it is found once about 1220 and again from 1549.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005) The TLFi and the Grand Robert follow Gamillscheg and Dauzat in tracing it to a Gaulish ''*balu'', while Bloch and Wartburg took it from the Old French verb ''baler'' “to winnow”.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}