Sport & ContestGreek → English
Acrobat
/ˈækrəbæt/noun
A performer of gymnastic feats, especially on a rope, bar or trapeze.
The Greek roots
ἄκρος
ákros
topmost, tip
βαίνειν
baínein
to walk, to go
Literally: “one who walks on tiptoe”
The story of the word
ἀκροβάτης meant a rope-dancer, someone who goes on the very tips. English took it from French in 1825, just as the circus was becoming an industry with permanent buildings and printed bills. The same ἄκρος gives acropolis, the city at the top, and acronym, a word made from the tips of other words.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → French → English
- First recorded
- 1825
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
acropolisacronymacrophobiadiabetes
In a sentence
A retired acrobat taught the class, and she still landed everything silently.