Where does “ballpoint” come from?
Ballpoint derives from English ball and English point, ultimately tracing to Ancient Greek βάλλω meaning "to throw," which developed into the modern sense of a pen with a rolling ball mechanism for writing.
ballpoint (English): A ballpoint pen; A kind of needle with a rounded...
Definitions
- A ballpoint pen; A kind of needle with a rounded...
Ancestry of “ballpoint”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | Ball | surname |
| 2 | Middle English | bal | A ball; A rounded or spherical lump or bump,... |
| 3 | Old English | beall | ball |
| 4 | English | beal | A small inflammatory tumor; pustule; To gather... |
| 5 | Old English | hyll | hill |
| 6 | Albanian | hulli | furrow |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | hulliz | hill |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | kl̥Hnís | hill |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | kelH- | to rise, to be tall; hill |