Summersault

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A movement in which a person turns head over heels in a vertical position, often performed acrobatically or in gymnastics
2. A rotation whereby the body flips over in a complete circle from a standing or crouching position, typically seen in sports
3. An acrobatic maneuver involving a forward or backward roll of the body in which the feet and head switch places in midair

Etymology: "Summersault" is an older spelling of "somersault," and the word's path into English runs through French and Occitan, with a Latin core. Its earliest form was "sombresault," a French word now obsolete, which came from Old Occitan "sobresalt." That term joined "sobre-," meaning "over" or "above," with "salt," meaning "jump," and both trace back to Latin: "suprā" ("over") and "saltus" ("jump"). So the word literally describes a leap over something. The "-sault" ending carries the jump. The same root shows up in Spanish "sobresaltar," which means to startle or spook someone, and in Portuguese "sobressaltar," which can mean to jump over. The English word thus keeps the old sense of leaping above, now applied to the body turning head over heels in the air.

Synonyms: backflip, flip, roll