English
trapball
From trap + ball.
Proto-Indo-European *drebʰ- ‘to step, trip, trample’
…
Proto-West Germanic *trappjan ‘to step’
Proto-West Germanic *trappjā ‘trap, snare’
Old English træppe ‘trap, snare’
Middle English trappe
English trap
Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‘to blow’
Proto-Germanic *balluz ‘round object’
Old English *beall
Middle English bal ‘a ball’
English ball
Today it means
noun A game in which a batsman makes a ball hit a trap (device) that sends the ball into the air, where the batsman has to hit it again.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “trapball”. 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 / trapball