English
Colorful toy balloons.
Etymology
1570, "a game played with a large, inflated leather ball" (possibly via (deprecated template usage ) [etyl] Middle French ballon ) from (deprecated template usage ) [etyl] Italian pallone ( “ large ball ” ) from palla ( “ ball ” ) , from Lombardic *palla . The Northern Italian form, balla ( “ ball shaped bundle ” ) , today a doublet, likely derived from Old French balle , from Frankish balla ( “ ball ” ) , and may have influenced the spelling of this word. Both Germanic words are from Proto-Germanic *ballô ( “ ball ” ) , *balluz , from Proto-Indo-European *bʰoln- ( “ bubble ” ) , from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ( “ to blow, swell, inflate ” ) . Akin to Old High German ballo , bal ( “ ball ” ) , (German Ballen ( “ bale ” ) ; Ball "ball"). More at ball .
Pronunciation
Noun
balloon (plural balloons )
An inflatable buoyant object, often (but not necessarily) round and flexible .
Such an object as a child’s toy or party decoration .
Such an object designed to transport people through the air .
1786 , John Jeffries, Jean-Pierre Blanchard , A narrative of the two aerial Voyages of Dr. J. with Mons. Blanchard: with meteorological observations and remarks. [1] , page 45 :We immediately threw out all the little things we had with us, ſuch as biſcuits, apples, &c. and after that one of our oars or wings; but ſtill deſcending, we caſt away the other wing, and then the governail ; having likewiſe had the precaution, for fear of accidents, while the Balloon was filling, partly to looſen and make it go eaſy, I now ſucceeded in attempting to reach without the Car, and unſcrewing the moulinet, with all its apparatus; I likewiſe caſt that into the ſea.
( medicine ) A sac inserted into part of the body for therapeutic reasons; such as angioplasty .
A speech bubble .
A type of glass cup , sometimes used for brandy .
( architecture ) A ball or globe on the top of a pillar, church, etc.
the balloon of St. Paul's Cathedral in London
( chemistry ) A round vessel , usually with a short neck , to hold or receive whatever is distilled ; a glass vessel of a spherical form.
( pyrotechnics ) A bomb or shell .
( obsolete ) A game played with a large inflated ball.
( engraving ) The outline enclosing words represented as coming from the mouth of a pictured figure .
( slang ) A woman ’s breast .
Synonyms
( inflatable object ) :
( child’s toy ) : toy balloon
( in medicine ) :
( speech bubble ) : speech bubble , fumetto
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
inflatable and buoyant object
Albanian: balonë (sq) f
Arabic: بَالُون (ar) m ( bālōn )
Egyptian Arabic: بالونة f ( ballōna )
Assamese: বেলুন ( belun )
Basque: globo
Belarusian: паве́траны шар m ( pavjétrany šar )
Bengali: বেলুন ( belun )
Bulgarian: бало́н (bg) m ( balón )
Chinese:
Cantonese: 氣球 / 气球 ( hei3 kau4 ) , 气球 ( hei3 kau4 )
Mandarin: 氣球 / 气球 (zh) ( qìqiú ) , 气球 (zh) ( qìqiú )
Cornish: pel ayr f
Czech: balón (cs) m
Danish: ballon (da)
Dutch: ballon (nl) m
Esperanto: balono (eo)
Estonian: õhupall (et)
Finnish: ilmapallo (fi)
French: ballon (fr) m
Georgian: აეროსტატი ( aerosṭaṭi )
German: Ballon (de) m , Luftballon (de) m
Alemannic German: Balung m
Greek: μπαλόνι (el) n ( balóni )
Greenlandic: ballonngi
Haitian Creole: blad
Hausa: balân
Hindi: गुब्बारा (hi) ( gubbārā )
Hungarian: please add this translation if you can
Hunsrik: Balong m
Icelandic: blaðra f
Ido: balono (io)
Indonesian: balon (id)
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Irish: balún m , éadromán m ( literary )
Japanese: バルーン (ja) ( barūn ) , 気球 (ja) ( ききゅう, kikyū ) , 風船 (ja) ( ふうせん, fūsen )
Korean: 기구 (ko) ( gigu )
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Kurdish:
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Latvian: balons m
Lithuanian: balionas m
Luxembourgish: Ballon m
Macedonian: балон m ( balon )
Malay: belon , gelembungan , gelembung
Maori: poihau , parūnu
Norwegian: ballong (no) m
Pennsylvania German: Luft
Persian: بالون (fa) ( bâlon )
Polish: balon (pl) m
Portuguese: balão (pt) , bexiga (pt)
Punjabi: ਭੁਕਾਨਾ ( bhukānā )
Romanian: balon (ro) n
Russian: возду́шный шар (ru) m ( vozdúšnyj šar )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: балон m
Roman: balon (sh) m
Slovak: balón m
Slovene: balon (sl) m
Spanish: globo (es) m , vejiga (es) ( El Salvador )
Swahili: mabofu
Swedish: ballong (sv) c
Tagalog: balun
Tamil: ஊதுபை ( ūtupai )
Telugu: గాలిబుడగ ( gālibuḍaga )
Thai: ลูกโป่ง (th) ( lûuk-bpòong )
Turkish: balon (tr)
Turkmen: howa shary
Ukrainian: пові́тряна ку́ля f ( povítrjana kúlja )
Vietnamese: khí cầu (vi)
Volapük: bälun (vo)
Welsh: balŵn
Zulu: ibhaloni
child’s toy
Afrikaans: ballong
Albanian: balonë (sq)
Arabic: بَالُون (ar) m ( bālōn )
Egyptian Arabic: بالونة f ( ballōna )
Armenian: փուչիկ (hy) ( pʻučʻik )
Azerbaijani: şar (az) , balon
Basque: puxika
Bulgarian: бало́н (bg) m ( balón )
Catalan: globus (ca) m , baló m
Cherokee: ᎠᎵᏌᎳᏗᏍᎩ ( alisaladisgi )
Chinese:
Cantonese: 氣球 / 气球 ( hei3 kau4 ) , 气球 ( hei3 kau4 )
Mandarin: 氣球 / 气球 (zh) ( qìqiú ) , 气球 (zh) ( qìqiú )
Czech: balón (cs) m
Danish: ballon (da)
Dutch: ballon (nl) m
Esperanto: balono (eo) , ludbaloneto
Estonian: õhupall (et)
Finnish: ilmapallo (fi)
French: ballon (fr) m , ballon de baudruche (fr) m , ballon en baudruche m , ballon gonflable m
Georgian: ჰაერბურთი ( haerburti )
German: Ballon (de) m , Luftballon (de) m
Greek: μπαλόνι (el) n ( balóni )
Haitian Creole: boul
Hausa: balân
Hebrew: בָּלוֹן (he) m ( balon )
Hindi: गुब्बारा (hi) f ( gubbārā )
Hungarian: léggömb (hu) , lufi (hu)
Icelandic: blaðra f
Indonesian: balon (id)
Italian: palloncino (it) m
Japanese: 風船 (ja) ( ふうせん, fūsen ) , バルーン (ja) ( barūn )
Kannada: ಗಾಳಿಚೆಂಡು (kn) ( gāḷiceṇḍu )
Khmer: ប៉ោង (km) ( paong )
Korean: 기구 (ko) ( gigu ) (氣球 (ko) )
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Kurdish:
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Lao: please add this translation if you can
Latin: balonus m
Latvian: balons m
Lithuanian: balionas m
Malay: belon
Maori: poihau
Marathi: फुगा ( phugā )
Mongolian: агаарын бөмбөлөг ( agaaryn bömbölög )
Nepali: please add this translation if you can
Norwegian: ballong (no) m
Papiamentu: balon
Persian: بادکنک (fa) ( bâdkonak ) , پوقانه ( puqâne ) ( Afghanistan )
Polish: balon (pl) m
Portuguese: balão (pt) m
Romanian: balon (ro)
Russian: возду́шный шар (ru) m ( vozdúšnyj šar ) , ша́рик (ru) m ( šárik )
Spanish: globo (es) m , bomba (es) f ( Colombia, Venezuela ) , chimbomba f ( Nicaragua )
Swahili: puto (sw)
Swedish: ballong (sv) c
Tagalog: lobo (tl)
Tamil: ஊதுபை ( ūtupai )
Telugu: గాలిబుడగ ( gālibuḍaga )
Thai: โคมลอย ( koom-lɔɔi )
Tibetan: ལྒང་ཕུག ( lgang phug )
Turkish: balon (tr)
Turkmen: howa shary
Ukrainian: бало́н (uk) m ( balón )
Vietnamese: bóng (vi)
Volapük: bälun (vo) , lutabälun
Wolof: naaw (wo)
Yiddish: באַלאָן m ( balon )
Zulu: ipaloni
inflatable object to transport people through the air
Albanian: balonë (sq) f , aerostat (sq) m
Arabic: مُنْطَاد (ar) m ( munṭād )
Egyptian Arabic: بالون m ( ballōn ) , منطاد m ( menṭād )
Armenian: օդապարիկ (hy) ( ōdaparik )
Belarusian: паве́траны шар m ( pavjétrany šar )
Bengali: বেলুন ( belun )
Bulgarian: бало́н (bg) m ( balón ) , аероста́т m ( aerostát )
Catalan: globus (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 氣球 / 气球 ( hei3 kau4 ) , 气球 ( hei3 kau4 )
Mandarin: 氣球 / 气球 (zh) ( qìqiú ) , 气球 (zh) ( qìqiú ) , 風船 / 风船 (zh) ( fēngchuán ) , 风船 (zh) ( fēngchuán )
Czech: balón (cs) m
Danish: luftballon
Dutch: luchtballon (nl) m
Esperanto: balono (eo)
Estonian: kuumaõhupall , õhupall (et)
Finnish: kuumailmapallo (fi) , ilmapallo (fi)
French: montgolfière (fr) f , ballon (fr) m
Georgian: აეროსტატი ( aerosṭaṭi )
German: Heißluftballon (de) m
Greek: αερόστατο (el) n ( aeróstato )
Hebrew: כדור פורח (kadur pore'akh) m
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Hungarian: hőlégballon (hu)
Icelandic: loftbelgur (is) m
Ido: balono (io)
Indonesian: balon udara
Irish: balún m
Japanese: 風船 (ja) ( ふうせん, fūsen ) , 気球 (ja) ( ききゅう, kikyū ) , バルーン (ja) ( barūn )
Kazakh: әуе шары ( äue şary )
Khmer: ពោងហោះ ( poong hɑh )
Korean: 기구 (ko) ( gigu ) , 풍선 ( pungseon )
Latvian: gaisa balons m
Lithuanian: oro balionas m
Mongolian: агаарын бөмбөлөг ( agaaryn bömbölög )
Norwegian: luftballong m , luftskip n
Persian: بالون (fa) ( bâlon )
Polish: balon (pl) m
Portuguese: balão (pt) m
Romanian: balon (ro) n
Russian: аэроста́т (ru) m ( aerostát ) , возду́шный шар (ru) m ( vozdúšnyj šar )
Swedish: luftballong (sv) c , ballong (sv) c
Thai: บัลลูน (th) ( ban-luun )
Ukrainian: пові́тряна ку́ля f ( povítrjana kúlja )
Vietnamese: khí cầu (vi)
Volapük: bälun (vo)
medicine: sac inserted into part of the body
architecture: ball or globe on the top of a pillar etc.
pyrotechnics: bomb or shell
game played with a large inflated ball
engraving: outline enclosing words
slang: woman’s breast
— see boob
Verb
balloon (third-person singular simple present balloons , present participle ballooning , simple past and past participle ballooned )
( intransitive ) To increase or expand rapidly .
His stomach ballooned from eating such a large meal.
Prices will balloon if we don't act quickly.
2016 May 23, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, “Apocalypse pits the strengths of the X-Men series against the weaknesses”, in The Onion AV Club [2] :For the franchise’s ballooning , unmanageable cast of mutants, picking sides now seems to have less to do with choosing between cooperation (which the recent movies implicitly distrust) and resistance, and more with whichever flashback-prone white dude’s overbearing savior complex works for you.
( intransitive ) To go up or voyage in a balloon.
( transitive ) To take up in, or as if in, a balloon.
( transitive ) To inflate like a balloon.
1944 , Emily Carr , The House of All Sorts , "Peach Scanties," [3]
A puff of wind from the open door caught and ballooned the scanties; off they sailed, out the window billowing into freedom.
( transitive , sports ) To strike (a ball) so that it flies high in the air.
2015 , Steve Wilson, A View From The Terraces (part 2, page 138)
After four minutes, leading goalscorer Haworth slid in but ballooned the ball over from six yards, and Hume then outran the defence to get to the by-line, but he could only hit his cross straight out.
Translations
To increase or expand rapidly
See also