Where does “somersault” come from?

Somersault comes from French sombresault, from Old Occitan sobresalt, ultimately from Old Occitan sobre-.

somersault (English): Starting on one's feet, an instance of rotating...

Definitions

  1. Starting on one's feet, an instance of rotating...

Ancestry of “somersault”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchsombresault—
2Old Occitansobresalt—
3LatinsaltusA leap, jump; a leaping; A forest or mountain...
4Latinsaliōto leap, jump, bound
5Latinsālsalt
6Proto-Italicsālssalt
7Proto-Indo-European*sḗh₂lsalt

Words derived from “somersault”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European *sḗh₂l →Every word from Proto-Italic sāls →Every word from Latin sāl →