baseball English · revision 4569

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 1815|origins=en base, en ball}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound, [[af|en|base|ball]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) with base in the sense of a goal or safe place.^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) Base was used for the start or finish line of a race from the 1690s, and for the safe spot in games like tag from the 15th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The word is first found in A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, published in London in 1744,^(Barnhart 1988) and in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey (written about 1798–1803, the OED's first quotation about 1815),^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) but these refer to a game like rounders, of which baseball is a more elaborate form.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The modern American game of teams of nine is from 1845 in Etymonline and MWU,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) and 1850 in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A rounders-like game was played by New England colonists in the 18th century.^(Barnhart 1988) The story that Abner Doubleday invented baseball at Cooperstown, New York, in 1839 is generally held to be a legend.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The ball used in the game is called a baseball by 1885,^(Etymonline) and the use of ''base'' for the bags on the field is from 1868.^(Etymonline) Compounds such as ''baseball club'' and ''baseball player'' are from 1855.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1744 – baseball, of a rounders-like game.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1815 – in Jane Austen.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1845 – the modern American game.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1855 – ''baseball club'', ''baseball player''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1868 – ''base'' for the bags.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1885 – the ball used in the game.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[game]] played with a [[bat]] and ball by two teams of nine players, who score by running round four bases laid out in a diamond.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The ball used in this game.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[baseballer]]

+ * [[baseball cap]]

+ * [[baseball glove]]

+ * [[indoor baseball]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[base]]

+ * [[ball]]

+ * [[rounders]]

+ * [[softball]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}