bál

• IPA^(key): [ˈbaːl]
• Rhymes: -aːl

Borrowed from German Ball.

bál m inan

1. ball (formal dance)

   Synonym: ples

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

bál

1. masculine singular past active participle of bát

• “bál”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “bál”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “bál”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

From Old Norse bál (whence the Danish bål (“bonfire, pyre”), Norwegian bål and Swedish bål (“pyre, bonfire”)) from Proto-Germanic *bēlą, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-. Cognate with the Old English bæl. Indo-European cognates include Sanskrit भाल (bhāla, “splendour”), Ancient Greek φαλός (phalós, “white”) and Old Armenian բալ (bal, “fog”).

• IPA^(key): /pɔɑːl/

  Rhymes: -ɔɑːl

• Rhymes: -ɔaːl

bál n (genitive singular báls, plural bál)

1. fire

Borrowed from German Ball.

• IPA^(key): [ˈbaːl]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl

bál (plural bálok)

1. ball (party)

Primarily:^[1]

Less commonly:^[2]

or rarely

• bál in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• bál , archaic synonym of bála (“bale, truss”)
• bál in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).

• láb

From Old Norse bál (whence the Danish bål (“fire, bonfire, pyre”), Norwegian bål and Swedish bål (“pyre, bonfire”)) from Proto-Germanic *bēlą, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-. Cognate with the Old English bæl. Indo-European cognates include Sanskrit भाल (bhāla, “splendour”), Ancient Greek φαλός (phalós, “white”) and Old Armenian բալ (bal, “fog”).

• IPA^(key): /pauːl/

  Rhymes: -auːl

bál n (genitive singular báls, nominative plural bál)

1. fire, bonfire
2. conflagration, blaze

   Synonyms: eldsvoði, stórbruni

• bálför

• blá

Borrowed from French bal.

• (Munster, Connacht) IPA^(key): /bˠɑːlˠ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /bˠæːlˠ/

bál m (genitive singular báil, nominative plural báil)

1. ball (formal dance)

• bálghúna

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “bál”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “bál”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “bál”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2025

From Proto-Germanic *bēlą, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-. Indo-European cognates include Sanskrit भाल (bhāla, “splendour”), Old English bǣl, Ancient Greek φαλός (phalós, “white”) and Old Armenian բալ (bal, “fog”).

bál n (genitive báls, plural bál)

1. large fire, pyre
   • Vafþrúðnismál 54

     Fjǫlð ek fór, · fjǫlð freistaða’k,
     fjǫlð ek reynda regin;
     Hvat mælti Óðinn · áðr á bál stigi
     sjalfr í eyra syni?

     Far I travelled, far I tempted,
     far I tested the Powers.
     What spoke Woden, before onto the pyre he stepped,
     himself, in his son’s ear?

• Icelandic: bál (“a fire”)
• Faroese: bál n
• Norwegian: bål (“pyre, fire, bonfire”)
• Swedish: bål (“pyre, bonfire”)
• Danish: bål (“pyre, bonfire”)

Derived from French bal. First attested in the 18th century.^[1]

• IPA^(key): [baːl]

bál m inan (relational adjective bálový)

1. ball (formal dance)

   Synonym: ples

• “bál”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025