softball

English

A softball.

A softball game.

Etymology

1926: soft +‎ ball. Compare hardball.

Noun

softball (countable and uncountable, plural softballs)

1. A game similar to baseball but played with a larger and softer ball which can be thrown overhand or underhand.
2. The ball used to play the sport.
3. (by analogy) A question designed to be easy to answer.

Synonyms

• diamond ball
• indoor baseball
• kitten ball
• mush ball
• pumpkin ball
• town ball

Translations

game

• Afrikaans: softbal, sagtebal
• Bulgarian: со́фтбол m (sóftbol)
• Catalan: softbol (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 壘球 (zh) (lěiqiú)

• Finnish: softball (fi)
• French: softball (fr) m, (Canada) balle-molle (fr) f
• German: Softball m
• Irish: láimhe (ga) m
• Japanese: ソフトボール (ja) (sofutobōru), 塁球 (ja) (ruikyū)

• Korean: 소프트볼 (sopeuteubol)
• Latvian: softbols m
• Lithuanian: mažojo (lt) m
• Maori: poiuka
• Navajo: jooł yikalí
• Portuguese: softball (pt) m, softbol (pt) m
• Romanian: softball n
• Russian: софтбо́л (ru) m (softból)
• Spanish: sófbol m
• Vietnamese: bóng mềm

ball

• Finnish: softball-pallo

• French: softball (fr) m

See also

• baseball
• hardball
• rounders

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Finnish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English softball.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsoftboːl/, [ˈs̠o̞ft̪bo̞ːl]
• Syllabification: soft‧ball

Noun

softball

1. softball

Declension

Inflection of softball (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		softball	softballit
genitive		softballin	softballien
partitive		softballia	softballeja
illative		softballiin	softballeihin
		singular	plural
nominative		softball	softballit
accusative	nom.	softball	softballit
	gen.	softballin
genitive		softballin	softballien
partitive		softballia	softballeja
inessive		softballissa	softballeissa
elative		softballista	softballeista
illative		softballiin	softballeihin
adessive		softballilla	softballeilla
ablative		softballilta	softballeilta
allative		softballille	softballeille
essive		softballina	softballeina
translative		softballiksi	softballeiksi
instructive		—	softballein
abessive		softballitta	softballeitta
comitative		—	softballeineen

Possessive forms of softball (type risti)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	softballini	softballimme
2nd person	softballisi	softballinne
3rd person	softballinsa

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French

Etymology

English softball

Alternative forms

• soft-ball

Noun

softball m (uncountable)

1. (sports) The sport of softball

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Portuguese

Alternative forms

• softbol

Etymology

From English softball.

Noun

softball m (uncountable)

1. softball (a sport similar to baseball)

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Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English softball.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsofdbol/, [ˈsov.ð̞β̞ol]

• IPA^(key): /ˈsofbol/, [ˈsov.β̞ol]

Noun

softball m (uncountable)

1. softball

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.