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ball

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: bal, Ball, bál, bål, and Bäll

English

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Commons
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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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    A basketball

    From Middle English bal, ball, balle, from an unattested Old English *beall, *bealla (“round object, ball”) or Old Norse bǫllr (“a ball”), both from Proto-Germanic *balluz, *ballô (“ball”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰol-n- (“ball, bubble”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to blow, inflate, swell”). Cognate with Old Saxon ball, Dutch bal, Old High German bal, ballo (German Ball (“ball”); Ballen (“bale”)). Related forms in Romance are borrowings from Germanic. See also balloon, bale.

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    Noun

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    ball (countable and uncountable, plural balls)

    2. A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass.
      a ball of spittle; a fecal ball
      1. A quantity of string, thread, etc., wound into a spherical shape.
        a ball of wool; a ball of twine
    3. (mathematics) Homologue or analogue of a disk in the Euclidean plane.
      1. (mathematics) In 3-dimensional Euclidean space, the volume bounded by a sphere.
      2. (mathematics) The set of points in a metric space of any number of dimensions lying within a given distance (the radius) of a given point.
      3. (mathematics) The set of points in a topological space lying within some open set containing a given point.
    4. (ballistics, firearms) A solid, spherical nonexplosive missile for a cannon, rifle, gun, etc.
      1. A jacketed non-expanding bullet, typically of military origin.
      2. (uncountable, obsolete) Such bullets collectively.
        • 1659, Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey, England’s Confusion‎[1], London, page 7:
          […] the Good Old Cause, which, as they seemed to represent it, smelt of Gunpowder and ball […]
        • 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 294:
          I gave each of them a Musket with a Firelock on it, and about eight Charges of Powder and Ball, charging them to be very good Husbands of both, and not to use either of them but upon urgent Occasion.
        • 1803, Robert Charles Dallas, The History of the Maroons‎[2], London: Longman and Rees, Volume 1, Letter 5, p. 148:
          […] some headstrong Maroons were using a soldier of Captain Craskell’s ill, and compelling him to write to his commander, that it was too late to do any thing good, and that they wanted nothing, having got plenty of powder and ball […]
        • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 1, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 1:
          This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship.
    5. A roundish, protuberant portion of some part of the body.
      the ball of the thumb
      1. (anatomy) The front of the bottom of the foot, just behind the toes.
    6. The globe; the earthly sphere.
    8. (sports, countable) An object that is the focus of many sports and games, in which it may be thrown, caught, kicked, bounced, rolled, chased, retrieved, hit with an instrument, spun, etc., usually roughly spherical or ovoid but whose size, weight, bounciness, colour, etc. differ according to the game
      • 1922, Michael Arlen, “3/19/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:
        Ivor had acquired more than a mile of fishing rights with the house; he was not at all a good fisherman, but one must do something; one generally, however, banged a ball with a squash-racket against a wall.
      • 2011 October 2, Aled Williams, “Swansea 2-0 Stoke”, in BBC Sport Wales:
        Graham secured victory with five minutes left, coolly lifting the ball over Asmir Begovic.
      1. (uncountable) Any sport or game involving a ball; its play, literally or figuratively.
        The children were playing ball on the beach.
        George played his college ball at Stanford.
      3. (baseball, countable) A pitch that falls outside of the strike zone.
      4. (pinball, countable) An opportunity to launch the pinball into play.
        If you get to a million points, you get another ball.
      5. (cricket, countable) A single delivery by the bowler, six of which make up an over.
      6. (originally soccer, countable) a kick (or hit in e.g. field hockey) of the ball towards where one or more teammates is expected to be. (Distinguished from a pass by a longer distance travelled or less specific target point.[1])
        • 2010 December 29, Chris Whyatt, “Chelsea 1-0 Bolton”, in BBC:
          After Essien's poor attempt flew into the stands, Rodrigo Moreno—Bolton's on-loan winger from Benfica who was making his full Premier League debut—nearly exposed the Blues with a lovely ball for Johan Elmander, but it just skipped away from his team-mate's toes.
        • 2014 October 21, Jim Tait, “Hockey girls through to next round”, in Shetland Times‎[3]:
          Shetland increased the lead in the 22nd minute when Kirkness shot first time from a ball that was fired into the area from outside the 25-metre line.
        • 2019, Robbie Fowler, My Life In Football: Goals, Glory & The Lessons I've Learnt‎[4], Kings Road Publishing, →ISBN:
          Mark Wright sent a speculative ball for me to chase after and I found myself leaving Tony Adams in my wake, with only Seaman to beat.
    9. (mildly vulgar, slang, usually in the plural) A testicle.
      1. (in the plural) Nonsense.
        That’s a load of balls, and you know it!
      2. (in the plural) Courage.
        I doubt he’s got the balls to tell you off.
    10. (printing, historical) A leather-covered cushion, fastened to a handle called a ballstock; formerly used by printers for inking the form, then superseded by the roller.
    11. (farriery, historical) A large pill, a form in which medicine was given to horses; a bolus.
      • 1842, James White, A compendium of the veterinary art:
        The laxative alterative has not this advantage, the aloes, of which it is composed, being extremely bitter, and therefore requiring to be given in the form of a ball.
    12. (slang, countable, uncountable, singular only) One thousand US dollars.
      • 2022 July 22, “Convict Life (Wanna Be Alone)”, YoungBoy Never Broke Again (lyrics)‎[5]:
        I'ma let these niggas have it, go on stage and throw a forty ball
      • 2022 September 16, “Hands on the Floor” (track 4, 0:40 from the start), in Su'Lan (lyrics), Forever Da Gang‎[6]:
        Forty ball all in these leather jeans
        Diamonds studs, I make a bum nigga think twice
      • 2022 November 23, “10PM in ATL” (track 2), in GoldenBoy Countup (lyrics), Chill‎[7]:
        Forty ball on my wrist, nigga, I cashed out on it (Damn)
        Forty bands on my neck, nigga, I maxed out on it (Damn)
      • 2022 November 25, “Gallery” (track 6), in OhGeesy (lyrics), GEEZYWORLD 2‎[8]:
        Dropped a twenty ball in Gallery Department
    Synonyms
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    Derived terms
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    (testicle):

    Descendants
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    • → Cantonese: 波 (bo1)
    • → Japanese: ボール (bōru)
    • → Makah: ba·la
    • → Yoruba: bọ́ọ̀lù
    Translations
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    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    Verb

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    ball (third-person singular simple present balls, present participle balling, simple past and past participle balled)

    1. (transitive) To form or wind into a ball.
      Synonyms: roll up, wad
      to ball cotton
    2. (metalworking) To heat in a furnace and form into balls for rolling.
    3. (transitive, US, vulgar) To have sexual intercourse with.
      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:copulate with
      • 1968, Joan Didion, “Slouching Towards Bethlehem”, in Slouching Towards Bethlehem:
        Max says it works both ways. “I mean if she comes in and tells me she wants to ball Don, maybe, I say ‘O.K., baby, it's your trip.’”
    4. (transitive, intransitive) To gather balls which cling to the feet or skis, as of damp snow or clay; to gather into balls.
      the horse balls
      the snow balls
    5. (slang, usually in present participle) To be hip or cool.
    6. (university slang) To reject from a fraternity or sorority. (Short for blackball.)
      • 2018 July 12, “'I Thought Frats Were Like Their Movies, and They Totally Are': A Review of 'Alpha Class'”, in College Media Network‎[9]:
        This highlights the issue of toxic masculinity in fraternities: a pledge only becomes a man, or a brother, by enduring as much abuse as he can and by proving his competence with girls. If he cannot, he is not only "balled" but seen as a "faggot" (this is a term directly from the work).
      • 2019 November 25, Annie Martin, “UCF frat suspended after report of pledges being forced to smoke marijuana, drink 'entire bottles' of alcohol”, in Orlando Sentinel‎[10]:
        All of these things are done by pledges in hopes of not getting 'balled' or kicked out.
    7. (nonstandard, slang) To play basketball.
      fuck it, we ball
      (Internet?) slang, used to indicate general perseverance
    8. (transitive) To punish by affixing a ball and chain.
      • 1865, Camp Sumpter, Andersonville National Historic Site, Rules and Regulations of the Prison:
        any man refusing to do police duty will be punished by the sergts by balling him the rest of the day.
    9. (transitive) Of bees: to kill (a wasp) by surrounding it in large numbers so as to raise its body heat.
    11. (intransitive) To operate (a vehicle) at high speed (whether balls-out, balls to the wall, or ballin' the jack, each of which comes ultimately from ball via a different route).
      Near-synonym: haul ass
      Hang back for a bit — that Peterbilt in the left lane is really ballin’ and I'd rather not be real close to him.
    Derived terms
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    Translations
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    Interjection

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    ball

    1. (sports) An exclamation to inform players on an adjacent playing area that a loose ball from another game has entered their playing area; typically implies that play should be paused until the ball has been retrieved.
    2. (Australian rules football) An appeal by the crowd for holding the ball against a tackled player.
      • 2007, “Laws Of The Afl 2007”, in AFL Sydney Swans Rules Zone‎[11], archived from the original on March 22, 2008:
        A good tackle (and some bad ones) will bring a cry of "Ball!" from the crowd – a plea for a holding the ball free kick.
    See also
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    References

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    1. ^ 2 August 2023, "Textbook Lionessing, scandalous kit evoking and school playground crowd sounds" from 41 min 20 sec, Football Clichés podcast, episode 180 (The Athletic)

    Etymology 2

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    From Middle French bal, from Middle French baler (“to dance”), from Old French baller, from Late Latin ballō (“to dance”).

    Noun

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    ball (plural balls)

    1. A formal dance.
      We still have pictures from the ball we had in August 2008.
    2. (informal) A very enjoyable time.
      Synonyms: blast, whale of a time
      I had a ball at that concert.
    3. A competitive event among young African-American and Latin American LGBTQ+ people in which prizes are awarded for drag and similar performances. See ball culture.
    Derived terms
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    Translations
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    Catalan

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    Etymology

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    Borrowed from French bal (“a dance”).

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    ball m (plural balls)

    1. dance
    2. ball, formal dance

    Synonyms

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    Derived terms

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    Crimean Tatar

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    Etymology

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    Borrowed from French balle (“ball”).

    Noun

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    ball

    1. estimation, score

    Declension

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    Declension of ball
    nominative ball
    genitive ballnıñ
    dative ballğa
    accusative ballnı
    locative ballda
    ablative balldan

    References

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    • Mirjejev, V. A., Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎[12], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

    East Central German

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    Etymology

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    Compare German bald.

    Adverb

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    ball

    1. (Erzgebirgisch) soon
      zi ball gieh
      [to] go too soon

    Further reading

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    • 2020 June 11, Hendrik Heidler, Hendrik Heidler's 400 Seiten: Echtes Erzgebirgisch: Wuu de Hasen Hoosn haaßn un de Hosen Huusn do sei mir drhamm: Das Original Wörterbuch: Ratgeber und Fundgrube der erzgebirgischen Mund- und Lebensart: Erzgebirgisch – Deutsch / Deutsch – Erzgebirgisch‎[13], 3. geänderte Auflage edition, Norderstedt: BoD – Books on Demand, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 20:

    Icelandic

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    Etymology

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    Borrowed from French bal (“a dance”).

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    ball n (genitive singular balls, nominative plural böll)

    1. dance

    Declension

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    Declension of ball (neuter)
    singular plural
    indefinite definite indefinite definite
    nominative ball ballið böll böllin
    accusative ball ballið böll böllin
    dative balli ballinu böllum böllunum
    genitive balls ballsins balla ballanna

    Irish

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    Etymology

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    From Old Irish ball,[1] from Proto-Celtic *ballos, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to blow, swell, inflate”); compare English ball, Greek φαλλός (phallós, “penis”).

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    ball m (genitive singular baill, nominative plural baill)

    1. (anatomy) organ
    2. component part
    3. member
    4. article
    5. spot, place
    6. spot, mark
    7. (set theory) element, member

    Declension

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    Declension of ball (first declension)
    bare forms
    case singular plural
    nominative ball baill
    vocative a bhaill a bhalla
    genitive baill ball
    dative ball baill
    forms with the definite article
    case singular plural
    nominative an ball na baill
    genitive an bhaill na mball
    dative leis an mball
    don bhall     		leis na baill

    Derived terms

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    Mutation

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    Mutated forms of ball
    radical lenition eclipsis
    ball bhall mball

    Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
    All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

    References

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    1. ^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “ball”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
    2. ^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 206, page 79

    Further reading

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    Middle English

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    Etymology 1

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    From Old English *beall.

    Noun

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    ball

    1. Alternative form of bal

    Etymology 2

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    Probably from Old French bale.

    Noun

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    ball

    1. Alternative form of bale (“bale”)

    Norwegian Bokmål

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    Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
    Wikipedia no

    Etymology 1

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    From Old Norse bǫllr.

    Noun

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    ball m (definite singular ballen, indefinite plural baller, definite plural ballene)

    1. ball (solid or hollow sphere)
    2. ball (object, usually spherical, used for playing games)
    Derived terms
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    Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
    Wikipedia no

    Etymology 2

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    Borrowed from French bal.

    Noun

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    ball n (definite singular ballet, indefinite plural ball or baller, definite plural balla or ballene)

    1. ball (formal social occasion involving dancing)
    Derived terms
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    References

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    Norwegian Nynorsk

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    Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
    Wikipedia nn

    Etymology 1

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    From Old Norse bǫllr.

    Pronunciation

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    • IPA(key): /balː/
    • IPA(key): /baʎː/ (palatalized, Trøndelag and Northern Norway)

    Noun

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    ball m (definite singular ballen, indefinite plural ballar, definite plural ballane)

    1. a ball (solid or hollow sphere)
    2. a ball (object, usually spherical, used for playing games)
    Derived terms
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    Etymology 2

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    Borrowed from French bal.

    Noun

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    ball n (definite singular ballet, indefinite plural ball, definite plural balla)

    1. ball (formal social occasion involving dancing)
    Derived terms
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    References

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    Old Irish

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    Etymology

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    From Proto-Celtic *ballos.

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    ball m

    1. a body part
    2. member of a group
      • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 89c11
        Mani ro{i}ma fora cenn, ní mema forsna bullu.
        If their head is not defeated, the members will not be defeated.
    3. part, portion
    4. a colored spot

    Declension

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    Masculine o-stem
    Singular Dual Plural
    Nominative ball ballL baillL
    Vocative baill ballL baulluH, bulluH
    Accusative ballN ballL baulluH, bulluH
    Genitive baillL ball ballN
    Dative baullL ballaib ballaib
    Initial mutations of a following adjective:
    • H = triggers aspiration
    • L = triggers lenition
    • N = triggers nasalization

    Descendants

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    Mutation

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    Mutation of ball
    radical lenition nasalization
    baill baill
    pronounced with /β(ʲ)-/     		mbaill

    Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
    All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

    Further reading

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    Scottish Gaelic

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    Pronunciation

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    Etymology 1

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    From Old Irish ball m (“limb, member, organ; member of community; part, portion, piece; article, object; place, spot; passage (of a book); spot, mark, blemish”) (compare Irish ball), from Proto-Celtic *ballos, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to blow, swell, inflate”) (compare English ball, Ancient Greek φαλλός (phallós, “penis”)).

    Noun

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    ball m (genitive singular buill, plural buill)

    1. member (of a group)
    2. article, item
    3. (anatomy) organ; limb
    Derived terms
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    Etymology 2

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    From Middle English bal and/or Old Norse bǫllr (“a ball”), both from Proto-Germanic *balluz, *ballô (“ball”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to blow, inflate, swell”).

    Noun

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    ball m (genitive singular buill, plural buill)

    1. ball
    Derived terms
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    Mutation

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    Mutation of ball
    radical lenition
    ball bhall

    Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic.
    All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

    Further reading

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    • Edward Dwelly (1911) “ball”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎[14], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
    • Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “ball”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

    Swedish

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    Etymology

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    (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

    Pronunciation

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    Adjective

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    ball

    1. (slang) cool, hip, fun, entertaining
      Synonym: cool
      Det är ballt att åka skateboard
      It's cool to ride a skateboard

    Declension

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    Inflection of ball
    Indefinite positive comparative superlative1
    common singular ball ballare ballast
    neuter singular ballt ballare ballast
    plural balla ballare ballast
    masculine plural2 balle ballare ballast
    Definite positive comparative superlative
    masculine singular3 balle ballare ballaste
    all balla ballare ballaste

    1 The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
    2 Dated or archaic.
    3 Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

    References

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    Yola

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    Etymology

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    From Middle English bal, from Old English *beall.

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    ball

    1. ball
      • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 4, page 84:
        Zitch blakeen, an blayeen, fan ee ball was ee-drowe!
        Such bawling and shouting, when the ball was thrown!
      • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 7, page 86:
        Th' commanès t'rapple; th' ball skir an vlee;
        The ball-clubs they rattled; the ball rose and flew;
      • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 11, page 88:
        Up caame ee ball, an a dap or a kewe
        Up came the ball, and a tap or a shove
      • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 12, page 88:
        Th' ball want a cowlee, the gazb maate all rize;
        The ball o'er shot the goal, the dust rose all about;

    Derived terms

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    References

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    • Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 84
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