bal

Forms

bal n (plural baluri)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the dance party is borrowed from French bal, with German Ball as a second model.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} NODEX also names Italian ballo, which Scriban gives beside the French word.^[6][7] The French noun is formed on the old verb baller (“to dance”), from Late Latin ballō (“to dance”).^[8][2] DELR, after the REW, takes the Latin verb probably from Ancient Greek πάλλω (pállō, “to shake, swing”).^[2] The DHLF compares the sense of βαλλίζω (ballízō, “to dance”) but finds the form closer to βάλλω (bállō, “to throw”).^[2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin first record the word in M. Cantacuzino in 1787.^[2][5] The DA quotes an account by E. Văcărescu of an invitation from the Spanish ambassador to a carnival ball.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The sense has stayed that of a large, formal party with dancing, usually held in the evening or at night in a hall prepared for it.^[9][3] Set phrases include bal mascat “masked ball” and the idiom dacă-i bal, bal să fie “if we're doing it, let's do it properly”.^[10][11][4] In popular use it also names the merrymaking of the Christmas season, and the Muntenian bal coșar is a party to mark a new house.^[4][12] In slang it means “a row, a quarrel”.^[13]

Timeline

• 1787 – bal “ball” in M. Cantacuzino.^[2][5]
• 1872 – in Constantin Negruzzi's collected writings, the record MDA2 cites.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ball: a (public) party with dancing, held in the evening or at night.^[3][4]
2. (popular) A party held during the Crăciun holidays.^[4]
3. (slang) A row, quarrel.^[13]

Usage notes

DEX lists a separate obsolete bal “bale of goods” as bal².^[3] It is borrowed from French balle and, after the DA and MDA2, also German Ballen; its variant bală is from Italian balla.^[9][4][2] DELR dates it to the end of the 18th century.^[2] Another obsolete bal, a small ball used in voting, appears in Cantacuzino's Plan of 1784–1787, also from French balle.^[2][9] MDA2 also lists a regional bal “the front part of a boot”, of unknown origin.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. bal
3. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 86
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 158
5. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. bal
6. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 146
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. bal
10. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
11. ^ Dima, Eugenia (coord.) (2007), Dicționar explicativ ilustrat al limbii române, Chișinău: Arc / Gunivas
12. ^ Marin, Maria; Mărgărit, Iulia, Glosar dialectal. Muntenia, București: Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti”
13. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu