ballon (French)
Where does "ballon" come from?
The French word ballon originated from the northern Italian word balone, which was used to describe a large ball. It was inherited into Middle French before evolving into its modern form, where its meaning expanded beyond simple sports balls to include balloons and spherical laboratory flasks. It also exists alongside its close relative balloune, known as a doublet.
Full etymology tree
- ballon (French), 'ball'
- inherited ballon (Middle French), 'large ball'
- borrowed ballone (Northern Italian)
- compound balla (Italian), 'large bundle, bale, reap'
- borrowed *balla (Lombardic)
- inherited *balluz (Proto-Germanic), 'round object, ball'
- derived *bhel- (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *balluz (Proto-Germanic), 'round object, ball'
- borrowed *balla (Lombardic)
- compound -one (Italian), 'suffix used to form augmentatives'
- inherited -o (Latin), 'Used to form masculine nouns with various meanings:'
- compound balla (Italian), 'large bundle, bale, reap'
- borrowed ballone (Northern Italian)
- inherited ballon (Middle French), 'large ball'
Ancestors
- ballon (Middle French)
Cognates and doublets
- balloune (French)
Descendants and derived words
- balonë (Albanian)
- Balung (Alemannic German)
- بالون (Arabic)
- балон (Bulgarian)
- balo (Bwatoo)
- baló (Catalan)
- balón (Czech)
- ballon (Danish)
- ballon (Dutch)
- ballon (English)
- ballon-chasseur (French)
- ballon de baudruche (French)
Updated April 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris