Vaulting

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. The act of springing over a barrier using hands or a pole ; the process of building a curved, arched ceiling or roof in architecture
2. Jumping or leaping with effort over something that blocks the way ; the technique of creating a vaulted shape in construction to support or decorate spaces
3. Clearing an obstacle by vaulting as a physical movement ; erecting an arch-shaped structure formed by stones or bricks

Etymology: Vaulting has two separate histories that happen to have merged. The architectural sense comes from Old French "volte" (modern "voûte"), which descends from a Vulgar Latin form built on Latin "volvere", "to roll or turn". The idea was of something curved or rolled over, and the word displaced the Old English "hwealf", which had meant the same kind of arched structure. The English noun "vault" took on the sense of a curved ceiling, and the gymnastic and athletic sense grew from the same stock, since the leap also turns the body over an obstacle. The sporting sense has a different origin. It derives from Middle French "volter", "to turn or spin around, to frolic", borrowed from Italian "voltare", itself from a Vulgar Latin frequentative of "volvere". Over time this verb came to be pronounced and spelled in line with the architectural word, so the two strands became indistinguishable in English. Readers meeting the leaping sense are therefore encountering a verb that is, in origin, about turning, which the modern meaning of vaulting over a fence still reflects.

Synonyms: leaping, jumping, springing, soaring, hurdling

Antonyms: falling, descending, dropping, plummeting, sinking