Where does “bal” come from?

bal (Silesian) comes from Old Polish bal, from Middle High German balle, from Old High German ballo, from Old High German bal, from Northern Sami bállu, from Northern Sami ballát, from Proto-Samic pëlājëtēk, from Proto-Samic pëlëtēk — to fear.

bal (Silesian): ball

Definitions

  1. ball

Ancestry of “bal”, step by step

bal traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Old Polish bal

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Polishbalbale
2Middle High Germanballe
3Old High Germanballo
4Old High Germanbalball
5Northern Samibállutesticle, ball
6Northern Samiballátto become scared
7Proto-Samicpëlājëtēkto become scared
8Proto-Samicpëlëtēkto fear
9Proto-Uralicpele-to fear

via German Schneeball

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanSchneeballsnowball; viburnum, any shrub of the genus...
2GermanSchneesnow; cocaine
3Middle High Germansnêsnow
4Old High Germansnēosnow
5Proto-West Germanicsnaiwsnow
6Proto-Germanicsnaiwazsnow
7Proto-Indo-Europeansnóygʷʰossnow
8Proto-Indo-Europeansneygʷʰ-to snow
Every word from Proto-Uralic pele-Every word from Proto-Samic pëlëtēkEvery word from Proto-Samic pëlājëtēk
bal — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer