English
ballon
Ballon comes from French ballon ‘ball’, and goes back to Italian balone.
- Italianc. 1300–presentbalone
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600ballon‘large ball’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘ball’
- Englishearliest quotation 1988same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Italianc. 1300–presentbalone
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600ballon‘large ball’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘ball’
- Englishearliest quotation 1988same form
Earliest quotation: 1988, Dorothy Samachson, Moscow Classical Ballet: “Tall and slender, with a superb ballon and effortless…”
Linked words
through French ballon ‘ball’
Today it means
noun The quality of a jump by which a ballet dancer appears to pause in midair
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Italian balone / ballon