Ball

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /bɔl/

Definitions

1. A spherical object used in various games and sports for throwing, catching, or hitting ; a fancy event where people dress formally and dance
2. An orb-shaped item designed for recreational activities or competitive sports ; an elegant occasion characterized by dancing and formal attire
3. A round item employed in athletic contests or leisure play ; a ceremonial gathering featuring dancing and formal dress

Etymology: The English noun "ball" has two separate ancestors that happened to land on the same spelling. The sporting and round-object sense comes from Germanic: it descends from Proto-Germanic "balluz" ("ball"), which in turn traces back to an Indo-European root meaning "to blow, inflate, swell." That is the same root behind the modern word "balloon" and the word "bale," so the idea of something puffed up or rounded is built into its ancestry. Old English had a form "beall," which was probably the ancestor of the Middle English "bal" that gave us the word. The dancing sense is a different story. It entered English through Middle French "bal," from "baler" ("to dance"), which came from Old French "baller," from Late Latin "ballare," the Latin word for dancing. "Ball" meaning a formal dance party is the later of these two arrivals and shares a source with "baile," making the two a doublet: one word that reached English twice by different routes.

Synonyms: sphere, orb, globe, round

Antonyms: cube, square