somersault
UK /ˈsʌməˌsɒlt/ · US /ˈsʌmɚˌsɔlt/ noun, verb
Forms somersaults somersaulting somersaulted somerset summersault
- noun Starting on one's feet, an instance of rotating one's body 360 degrees while airborne or on the ground, with one's feet passing over one's head.
- verb To perform a somersault. “The performer somersaulted all the way across the stage.”
Synonyms
salto summy backflip somerset summersault summerset somersaulting flip
Etymology
From French sombresault (now obsolete, compare French sursaut, soubresaut), from Old Occitan sobresalt, from sobre- (“over, above”) + salt (“jump”), from Latin suprā (“over”) + saltus (“jump”). Doublet of soubresaut.
Cognate with Spanish sobresaltar (“to spook, startle”) and Portuguese sobressaltar (“to spook, scare, jump over”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A leap in which a person turns his heels over his head and lights upon his feet; a turning end over end. [Written also summersault, sommerset, summerset, etc.] "The vaulter's sombersalts." Donne.
Etymology [F. soubresaut a jump, leap, OF. soubresault, It. soprassalto an overleap, fr. L. supra over + saltus a leap, fr. salire to leap; or the French may be from Sp. sobresalto a sudden asault, a surprise. See Supra, and Salient.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “somersault”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details