somersault · noun — 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.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, somersault ranks #2,514 of 43,225 for Qualifying.
somersault is pronounced /ˈsʌməˌsɒlt/.
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”).
noun
- 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.e.g.“Near-synonym: backflip”
verb
- To perform a somersault.e.g.“Near-synonym: backflip”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- somersaulting 84% match — An instance of performing a somersault. vs somersault →
- frontflip 71% match — A floor movement, consisting of rotating one's body in the air 360 degrees in the forward direction. vs somersault →
- salto 69% match — A somersault. vs somersault →
- roundoff 66% match — A move similar to a cartwheel but ending with the legs together and the gymnast facing in the opposite direction. vs somersault →
- backflip 66% match — An act of rotating one's body 360 degrees in the backward direction. vs somersault →
- flip 64% match — A maneuver which rotates an object end over end. vs somersault →
- neckspring 61% match — A move in which the gymnast starts by lying on his or her back, moves as if into a backwards roll, but then whips the legs upward and forward while pushing off to land on the feet. vs somersault →
- headspin 61% match — An athletic or breakdancing move in which a person balances on the head while rotating along the vertical axis of the body. vs somersault →