Summerset

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. To perform a forward or backward roll by turning over end over end in a continuous motion
2. To rotate head-over-heels or flip completely over in a tumbling movement
3. To turn upside down by rolling or flipping in a complete rotation

Etymology: The word "summerset" is simply an old spelling of "somersault," and the spelling tells you something about how it was heard. The modern word began in French as "sombresault," built from "sobre-" meaning "over" or "above" and "salt" meaning "jump." Those parts go back to Latin "suprā," "over," and "saltus," "a leap." The French form came from Old Occitan "sobresalt," so the whole idea is a leap carried over the head. English took the word in that shape and let it drift. Spellings like "summerset" show English speakers reshaping an unfamiliar foreign sound into something closer to their own words, with the first part sounding like "summer." Nothing about the leap itself has to do with the season, however tempting that link may be. The word has close relatives in Spanish and Portuguese, where "sobresaltar" means to startle or scare, and in French, where "soubresaut" is a doublet of the same word. The shared sense of a sudden jump connects a tumbling acrobat to a startled heart.

Synonyms: somersault, tumble, flip