balon

Forms

balon n (plural baloane)^[1] Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 spells it ballonŭ, with a double ⟨l⟩ after the French word.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French ballon, a neological borrowing of the end of the 18th century.^{[3][4][5][1][6]} DELR names German Ballon as a second model, itself taken from French.^[3]

French took the word in 1549 from Italian balone, a northern Italian form and the counterpart of standard pallone (“big ball”), an augmentative in -one of balla (“ball”).^[7][3] DELR traces the Italian noun to Lombardic *balla and compares Old High German bal (“ball, globe”).^[3] Scriban derives the French word from balle (“ball”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the first record to 1792–1793, in a text of Predetici, and Tiktin gives 1793 for the same author; the sense there is the French one, an air balloon.^[3][6] MDA2 dates it only from Petru Poni's physics textbook of 1897, where it is a glass flask used in chemistry.^[4][9]

Semantic evolution

The core sense is the aerostat filled with a gas lighter than air; from it come the child's toy balloon and, in sport, the ball itself.^[5][10] The laboratory sense, a round glass vessel with a neck, is in Poni's textbook and in Tiktin.^[9][6] Phrases grew from the aerostat: balon captiv “tethered balloon” and balon de încercare, a small balloon released to show the wind's direction and, figuratively, a piece of news put out to test the public's reaction.^[4][9] The press still used balon de încercare in this figurative sense at the end of the 20th century.^[11]

In the 20th century balon also became a short form of balonzaid “raincoat”, recorded from 1966.^[3][12] Slang uses it for a condom and, in the plural, for large breasts.^[13] In Moldova it also names a machine for spraying vineyards and orchards.^[14]

Timeline

• 1792–1793 – first record, in Predetici.^[3][6]
• 1870 – ballonŭ in Costinescu's dictionary.^[2]
• 1894 – the participle balonat “swollen”, from the verb balona.^[3]
• 1897 – the laboratory flask in Poni's physics textbook.^[4][9]
• 1907 – the diminutive balonaș.^[3]
• 1949 – balonet, a gas compartment of a dirigible.^[3]
• 1958 – balonzaid “waterproof fabric; raincoat”.^[3]
• 1966 – balon as a short form of balonzaid.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A balloon, an aerostat: an envelope filled with a gas lighter than air, often carrying a basket;^[5][4] a lua pe cineva în balon “to make fun of someone”.^[5][4]
2. A toy balloon of thin rubber, filled with air or a light gas.^[5][4][1]
3. (sports) A ball: Fundașul a trimis balonul în tribună.^[5][1]
4. balon de săpun: a soap bubble;^[5][4] (figurative) empty, deceptive talk.^[5][4]
5. A round glass flask used in laboratory work;^[5][4] balon de oxigen “oxygen tank” for reviving a patient.^[5][4]
6. (colloquial) A balonzaid, a raincoat.^[5][12]

Word family

• balona
• balonaș
• balonet
• balonzaid

Usage notes

The DA lists a separate popular balon, a form of landou “landau”, the large carriage with a folding top;^[9][6] Tiktin likewise records an obsolete balon “closed carriage, coupé”.^[9][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. balon
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 160
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 87
6. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. balon
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună
9. ^ a b c d e f 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. balon
10. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 65
11. ^ Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE)
12. ^ a b Dima, Eugenia (coord.) (2007), Dicționar explicativ ilustrat al limbii române, Chișinău: Arc / Gunivas, p. s.v. balon
13. ^ Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu
14. ^ Stati, Vasile (2003), Dicționar moldovenesc-românesc, Chișinău