English
globophilia
Globophilia comes from Latin globus ‘sphere’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gel- ‘form into a ball’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gel-1‘form into a ball’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEglobus2‘sphere’
- Englishtodayglobophilia2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin globus
- 2 Wiktionary, English globophilia
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gel-Wiktionary, Latin globus‘form into a ball’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEglobusWiktionary, English globophilia‘sphere’
- EnglishtodayglobophiliaWiktionary, English globophilia
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gel- ‘form into a ball’
children, cold, clean, child, cloud, cluster, gel, chill, jelly, colt, clout, clot, gelatin, gelato, clough, glebe, ganglion, clod, klutz, 47 more
through Latin globus ‘sphere’
Today it means
noun A paraphilia in which one is aroused by balloons.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “globophilia”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin globus. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *gel- / globophilia