somersault

C1 Topic:Verbs of Movement

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.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

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

Word family

Forms somersaultedsomersaultingsomersaults

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 ->

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# 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
- Verbs of Movement
- The Human Body

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somersault

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