Etymograph

English

ballon

Ballon comes from French ballon ‘ball’, and goes back to Italian balone.

  1. Italianc. 1300–presentbalone1
  2. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600ballon2‘large ball’
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentballon3‘ball’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1988ballon3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Middle French ballon
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French ballon
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English ballon
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1988, Dorothy Samachson, Moscow Classical Ballet: “Tall and slender, with a superb ballon and effortless…”.

Lineage

  1. Italianc. 1300–presentbaloneWiktionary, Middle French ballon
  2. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600ballonWiktionary, French ballon‘large ball’
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentballonWiktionary, English ballon‘ball’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1988ballonWiktionary, English ballon. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1988, Dorothy Samachson, Moscow Classical Ballet: “Tall and slender, with a superb ballon and effortless…”

Linked words

through French ballon ‘ball’

dirigible, 1 more

Today it means

noun The quality of a jump by which a ballet dancer appears to pause in midair

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ballon”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Middle French ballon, French ballon. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Italian balone / ballon

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