somersault

C1 Topic:The Human Body

Also spelled somerset

US /ˈsʊməˌsɒlt/ UK /ˈsʌməˌsɒlt/ See IPA manual

Freq #30861

Meanings

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

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.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a movement in which you... flipsaltosomerset

Word family

Forms somersaultedsomersaultingsomersaults

Simplified etymology

Somersault came from Old French sombresault, which derived from Provençal sobresaut. Its elements were sobre “above” and saut “leap.”

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”).

*sel- Proto-Indo-European sombresault French sobresalt pro suprā Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

The Human Body

External links

# somersault

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈsʊməˌsɒlt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈsʌməˌsɒlt/
**Frequency rank:** 30861

## Meanings
1. A movement in which you roll your body in a full circle, with your feet going over your head.
2. To roll your body in a full circle so that your feet pass over your head.

## Examples
- The child did a forward somersault on the soft grass.
- The gymnast somersaulted across the mat with perfect control.

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *sel-
- Root: sombresault
- Root: sobresalt
- Root: suprā

## 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”).

## AI Etymology
Somersault is 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”). In present-day use, it can mean a movement in which you roll your body in a full circle, with your feet going over your head, or to roll your body in a full circle so that your feet pass over your head.

## Topics
- The Human Body

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