English
ballet
Ballet comes from Italian balletto ‘short dance, ballet’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- ‘to throw, reach, pierce’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷelH-‘to throw, reach, pierce’root as named · steps between not traced
- Late Latinmodernballāre
- Italianc. 1300–presentballare‘to dance’
- Italian, derivedc. 1300–presentballo‘group dance’
- Italian, derivedc. 1300–presentballetto‘short dance, ballet’diminutive form of ballo
- Frenchc. 1600–presentballet
- Englishearliest quotation 1741same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷelH-‘to throw, reach, pierce’root as named · steps between not traced
- Late Latinmodernballāre
- Italianc. 1300–presentballare‘to dance’
- Italian, derivedc. 1300–presentballo‘group dance’
- Italian, derivedc. 1300–presentballetto‘short dance, ballet’diminutive form of ballo
- Frenchc. 1600–presentballet
- Englishearliest quotation 1741same form
Earliest quotation: 1741, Richard Izacke: “9. Peter West, Ar. bears sable Ballets argent a…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- ‘to throw, reach, pierce’
symbol, devil, metabolic, emblem, hyperbolic, quail, ballistic, parable, quill, parabolic, embolism, anabolic, obelisk, quell, ballad, pul, metabolize, hyperbola, ballista, 65 more
Today it means
noun A classical form of dance.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- / ballet