somersault

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A movement in which you roll your body in a full circle, with your feet going over your head.

   The child did a forward somersault on the soft grass.

2. 2
   verb

   To roll your body in a full circle so that your feet pass over your head.

   The gymnast somersaulted across the mat with perfect control.

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”).

Topics