somersault

• somerset, summersault

From French sombresault (now obsolete, compare French sursaut, soubresaut), from Old Occitan sobresalt, from sobre- (“over, above”) + salt (“jump”), from Latin supra (“over”) + saltus (“jump”).

Cognate with Spanish sobresaltar (“to spook, startle”) and Portuguese sobressaltar (“to spook, scare, jump over”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsʌməˌsɒlt/, /ˈsʌməˌsɔːlt/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /ˈsʊməˌsɒlt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsʌmɚˌsɔlt/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈsʌmɚˌsɑlt/

somersault (plural somersaults)

1. 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.

somersault (third-person singular simple present somersaults, present participle somersaulting, simple past and past participle somersaulted)

1. To perform a somersault.

   The performer somersaulted all the way across the stage.

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