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A ball is a single testicle. |
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{{Wiktionary}} |
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[[Image:Generic football.png|thumb|[[Association football|Football (Soccer ball)]]]] |
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A '''ball''' is a round object with various uses. It is usually [[sphere|spherical]] but can be [[ovoid]]. It is used in [[ball game]]s, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used for simpler activities, such as catch, [[marbles]] and [[juggling]]. Balls made from hard-wearing [[metal]] are used in [[engineering]] applications to provide very low friction bearings, known as [[ball bearings]]. |
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Although many types of balls are today made from [[rubber]], this form was unknown outside the Americas until after the voyages of [[Christopher Columbus|Columbus]]. The Spanish were the first Europeans to see bouncing rubber balls (albeit solid and not inflated) which were employed most notably in the [[Mesoamerican ballgame]]. Balls used in various sports in other parts of the world prior to Columbus were made from other materials such as animal bladders or skins, stuffed with various materials. |
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== Etymology == |
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The first known use of the word ''ball'' in English in the sense of a globular body that is played with was in 1205 in ''{{lang|la|[[Laȝamon's Brut, or Chronicle of Britain]]}}'' in the phrase, "{{lang|la|Summe heo driuen balles wide ȝeond Þa feldes.}}" The word came from the [[Middle English]] ''bal'' (inflected as ''ball-e, -es'', in turn from [[Old Norse]] ''böllr'' ({{pronounced|bɔlːr}}; compare Old Swedish ''baller,'' and Swedish ''boll'') from [[Proto-Germanic]] ''ballu-z,'' (whence probably Middle High German ''bal, ball-es,'' Middle Dutch ''bal''), a [[cognate]] with [[Old High German]] ''ballo, pallo,'' Middle High German balle from Proto-Germanic ''*ballon'' (weak masculine), and Old High German ''ballâ, pallâ,'' Middle High German ''balle,'' Proto-Germanic ''*ballôn'' (weak feminine). No Old English representative of any of these is known. (The answering forms in Old English would have been ''beallu, -a, -e'' -- compare ''bealluc, ballock''.) If ''ball-'' was native in Germanic, it may have been a cognate with the Latin ''foll-is'' in sense of a "thing blown up or inflated." In the later Middle English spelling ''balle'' the word coincided graphically with the French ''balle'' "ball" and "bale" which has hence been erroneously assumed to be its source. French ''balle'' (but not ''boule'') is assumed to be of Germanic origin, itself, however. |
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==History== |
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A ball, as the essential feature in nearly every form of game requiring physical exertion, must date from the very earliest times. A rolling object appeals not only to a [[human baby]] but to a [[kitten]] and a [[puppy]]. Some form of game with a ball is found portrayed on [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] monuments, and is played among aboriginal tribes at the present day. In [[Homer]], [[Nausicaa]] was playing at ball with her maidens when [[Odysseus]] first saw her in the land of the [[Phaeacia]]ns (Od. vi. 100). And Halios and Laodamas performed before [[Alcinous]] and Odysseus with ball play, accompanied with dancing (Od. viii. 370). The [[Jew|Hebrew]]s have no mention of the ball in their scriptures.<ref name="eb1911">{{Wikisource1911Enc Citation|Ball}}</ref> |
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===Ancient Greeks=== |
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Among the [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] games with balls (σφαῖραι) were regarded as a useful subsidiary to the more violent athletic exercises, as a means of keeping the body supple, and rendering it graceful, but were generally left to boys and girls. Of regular rules for the playing of ball games, little trace remains, if there were any such. The names in Greek for various forms, which have come down to us in such works as the Ὀνομαστικόν of Pollux of [[Naucratis]], imply little or nothing of such; thus, ἀπόρραξις only means the putting of the ball on the ground with the open hand, οὐρανία, the flinging of the ball in the air to be caught by two or more players; φαινίνδα would seem to be a game of catch played by two or more, where feinting is used as a test of quickness and skill. Pollux (i. x. 104) mentions a game called ἐπίσκυρος, which has often been looked on as the origin of football. It seems to have been played by two sides, arranged in lines; how far there was any form of "goal" seems uncertain.<ref name="eb1911"/> |
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===Ancient Romans=== |
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Among the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]], ball games were looked upon as an adjunct to the bath, and were graduated to the age and health of the bathers, and usually a place (sphaeristerium) was set apart for them in the baths (thermae). There appear to have been three types or sizes of ball, the [[Pila (ball)|pila]], or small ball, used in catching games, the [[Paganica (ball game)|paganica]], a heavy ball stuffed with feathers, and the [[Follis (ball game)|follis]], a leather ball filled with air, the largest of the three. This was struck from player to player, who wore a kind of [[Gauntlet (glove)|gauntlet]] on the arm. There was a game known as [[Trigon (game)|trigon]], played by three players standing in the form of a triangle, and played with the follis, and also one known as [[harpastum]], which seems to imply a "scrimmage" among several players for the ball. These games are known to us through the Romans, though the names are Greek.<ref name="eb1911"/> |
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===Modern ball games=== |
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The various modern games played with a ball or balls and subject to rules are treated under their various names, such as [[polo]], [[cricket]], [[football]], etc.<ref name="eb1911"/> |
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== Images == |
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{{cleanup-gallery}} |
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<gallery> |
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Image:RadZepMov_soccer_hires_computed_tomography_shoe_and_ball_color.jpeg|Computed [[tomography]] of a [[Soccer ball|football (soccer)]] [http://www.rad-zep.de/RadZepMov/Weltmeisterschaft-2006-Fussball/web/Radiologie-Fussball-Weltmeisterschaft-Movie-Gallerie_nl.html (Video)] |
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Image:Cricket-ball-red-madeinaustralia.jpg|[[Cricket ball]] |
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Image:Baseball (crop).jpg|[[Baseball (object)|Baseball]] |
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Image:Basketball.png|[[Basketball (ball)|Basketball]] |
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Image:Billiards balls.jpg|[[Billiard ball]]s |
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Image:Brine lax ball.jpg|[[Lacrosse ball]] |
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Image:Sherrin.png|[[Australian rules football]] |
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Image:DSC 0313.JPG|[[Tennis ball]] |
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Image:Wilson American football.jpg|[[Football (ball)#American and Canadian football|American Football]] |
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Image:Rugbyball2.jpg|[[rugby union]] |
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Image:Golfball.jpg|[[Golf ball]] next to a hole |
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Image:BaodingQigong.JPG|[[Baoding Balls]] |
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Image:Volleyball.jpg|[[Volleyball]] |
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</gallery> |
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== See also == |
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* [[Super Ball]] |
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* [[football (ball)]] |
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* [[Penny floater]] |
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* [[Prisoner Ball]] |
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* [[Shuttlecock]] |
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* [[Marbles]] |
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* [[Buckminster Fullerene]] "Bucky balls" |
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== References == |
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{{reflist}} |
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[[Category:Balls| ]] |
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[[Category:National Toy Hall of Fame inductees]] |
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[[Category:Sports equipment]] |
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[[Category:Physical activity and dexterity toys]] |
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[[an:Pilota]] |
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[[gn:Vakapipopo]] |
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[[br:Polotenn]] |
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[[bg:Топка]] |
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[[ca:Pilota]] |
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[[cv:Пӳске]] |
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[[ceb:Bola]] |
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[[cs:Míč]] |
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[[da:Bold]] |
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[[de:Ball]] |
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[[el:Μπάλα]] |
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[[es:Pelota]] |
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[[eo:Pilko]] |
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[[eu:Baloi]] |
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[[fa:توپ (ورزش)]] |
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[[fr:Ballon (sport)]] |
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[[fur:Bale]] |
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[[ga:Liathróid]] |
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[[gd:Bàlla]] |
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[[gl:Pelota]] |
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[[gan:球]] |
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[[ko:공 (운동 기구)]] |
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[[hr:Lopta]] |
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[[io:Bulo]] |
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[[id:Bola]] |
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[[it:Palla (sport)]] |
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[[he:כדור משחק]] |
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[[ku:Gog]] |
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[[la:Pila]] |
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[[lb:Ball]] |
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[[lt:Kamuolys]] |
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[[hu:Labda]] |
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[[ml:പന്ത്]] |
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[[ms:Bola]] |
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[[nl:Bal (voorwerp)]] |
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[[ja:ボール]] |
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[[no:Ball]] |
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[[nn:Ball]] |
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[[uz:Toʻp (sport)]] |
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[[pl:Piłka]] |
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[[pt:Bola]] |
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[[ro:Minge]] |
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[[qu:Piluta]] |
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[[ru:Мяч]] |
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[[sah:Мөкүчүк]] |
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[[sco:Baw]] |
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[[scn:Badda]] |
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[[simple:Ball]] |
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[[sk:Lopta]] |
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[[sl:Žoga]] |
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[[szl:Bala]] |
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[[fi:Pallo (peliväline)]] |
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[[sv:Boll]] |
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[[ta:பந்து]] |
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[[te:బంతి]] |
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[[th:ลูกบอล]] |
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[[tg:Тӯб]] |
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[[tr:Top (spor)]] |
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[[bug:ᨁᨚᨒᨚ]] |
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[[uk:М'яч]] |
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[[fiu-vro:Pall]] |
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[[zh-yue:波]] |
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[[zh:球 (體育)]] |
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Revision as of 23:14, 28 March 2010
A ball is a single testicle.