baseball

See also: Baseball, base ball, and base-ball

English

A baseball

A game of baseball

Alternative forms

• base ball (obsolete) [1800s]
• base-ball (dated)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *gʷem-

Proto-Indo-European *-tis

Proto-Indo-European *gʷémtis

Proto-Hellenic *gʷə́tis

Ancient Greek βᾰ́σῐς (bắsĭs)bor.

Latin basis

Old French basebor.

Middle English base

English base

Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-der.

Proto-Germanic *balluz

Old English *beall

Middle English bal

English ball

English baseball

From base + ball.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbeɪs.bɔːl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈbeɪs.bɔl/, /ˈbeɪs.bɑl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

baseball (countable and uncountable, plural baseballs)

1. (uncountable) A sport common in North America, the Caribbean, and East Asia, in which the objective is to strike a ball so that one of a nine-person team can run counter-clockwise among four bases, resulting in the scoring of a run. The team with the most runs after termination of play, usually nine innings, wins.
   • 1803 (date written), [Jane Austen], Northanger Abbey; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC:

     It was not very wonderful that Catherine, who had nothing heroic about her, should prefer cricket, base-ball, riding on horseback, and running about the country at the age of fourteen, to books.

   • 2016, Mike Westphal, Cloud of Expectation; Book One: The In America Series, Xlibris, →ISBN:

     “Your father was the best baseball player anyone had ever seen.” Excited but halting, her voice ran on past all obstacles. “We watched him play shortstop, and my father said he was the best, and my brothers too. The Cardinals sent a man down to talk to him about one of their teams.” Like an ancient marineress, she would not let go. She meant the St. Louis Cardinals’ farm teams.

2. (countable) The ball used to play the sport of baseball.
   • 2005 April 8, Brian Greene, “One Hundred Years of Uncertainty”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 9 March 2021:

     The reason we have for so long been unaware that the universe evolves probabilistically is that for the relatively large, everyday objects we typically encounter -- baseballs, flowerpots, the Moon -- quantum mechanics shows that the probabilities become highly skewed, hugely favoring one outcome and effectively suppressing all others. […] With such a skewed probability, the quantum reasoning goes, we have long overlooked the tiny chance that the baseball can (and, on extraordinarily rare occasions, will) land somewhere completely different.

3. A variant of poker in which cards with baseball-related values have special significance.

Usage notes

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:baseball.

Derived terms

• antibaseball
• baseball Annie
• baseball bat
• baseball cap
• baseball card
• baseball diamond
• baseballdom
• baseballer
• baseballese
• baseball field
• baseball game
• baseball glove
• baseball hat
• baseballing
• baseballist
• baseball mitt
• baseball plant
• baseball player
• baseball rule
• baseball stadium
• baseball uniform
• basebrawl
• British baseball
• fantasy baseball
• indoor baseball
• inside baseball
• inside-baseball
• insider baseball
• nonbaseball
• organized baseball
• rotisserie baseball
• scrub baseball
• Welsh baseball

Translations

ball game

• Afrikaans: bofbal (af)
• Albanian: bejsboll m
• Arabic: بَيْسْبُول m (baysbūl)
• Armenian: բեյսբոլ (hy) (beysbol)
• Asturian: béisbol m
• Azerbaijani: beysbol
• Belarusian: бейсбо́л m (bjejsból)
• Bengali: বেসবল (besbol)
• Bulgarian: бейзбол m (bejzbol)
• Burmese: ဗေ့စဘော (be.ca.bhau:), ဘေ့စ်ဘော (bhec.bhau:)
• Catalan: beisbol (ca) m
• Cherokee: ᎠᎳᏍᎦᎶᏗ (alasgalodi)
• Chinese:

  Hakka: 野球 (yâ-khiù)

  Hokkien: 野球 (zh-min-nan) (iá-kiû)

  Mandarin: 棒球 (zh) (bàngqiú)

• Czech: baseball (cs) m
• Danish: baseball c
• Dutch: honkbal (nl) n
• Esperanto: basbalo, bazopilkado
• Estonian: pesapall (et)
• Finnish: baseball (fi), pesäpallo (fi) (Finnish variety of the game), amerikkalainen pesäpallo (rare)
• French: baseball (fr) m, base-ball (fr) m
• Frisian:

  West Frisian: basebal

• Galician: béisbol (gl) m
• Georgian: ბეისბოლი (beisboli)
• German: Baseball (de) m
• Greek: μπέιζμπολ (el) n (béizmpol)
• Hebrew: כדור־בסיס (kadur-basys), בֵּיסבּוֹל / בייסבול m (beysbol)
• Hindi: बेसबॉल m (besbŏl)
• Hungarian: baseball (hu)
• Icelandic: hafnabolti (is) m, hornabolti m
• Indonesian: bisbol (id)
• Irish: daorchluiche m
• Italian: baseball (it) m, pallabase (it) f (rare), batti e corri m (informal)
• Japanese: 野球 (ja) (やきゅう, yakyū), ベースボール (ja) (bēsubōru)
• Kazakh: бейсбол (beisbol)
• Khmer: បេស្បល (beesbɑɑl)
• Korean: 야구(野球) (ko) (yagu), 베이스볼 (ko) (beiseubol)
• Kyrgyz: бейсбол (beysbol)
• Lao: ເບດບອນ (bēt bǭn)
• Latin: ludus pilae et basium m, basipila f
• Latvian: beisbols m
• Lithuanian: beisbolas m
• Luxembourgish: Baseball
• Macedonian: безбол m (bezbol), бејзбол m (bejzbol)
• Malay: besbol
• Maltese: bejżbol
• Māori: poipapa
• Mongolian: бэйсбол (bejsbol)
• Navajo: jooł daakalígíí, jooł yikalí
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: baseball m

  Nynorsk: baseball m

• Occitan: beisbòl m
• Ojibwe: bakitejii'igem
• Persian: بیسبال (beysbâl)
• Plautdietsch: Beebaul m
• Polish: baseball (pl) m, bejsbol (pl) m
• Portuguese: beisebol (pt) m (Brazil), basebol (pt) m (Portugal)
• Romanian: baseball (ro) n
• Romansh: baseball m
• Russian: бейсбо́л (ru) m (bejsból)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бѐјзбо̄л m

  Latin: bèjzbōl (sh) m

• Sinhalese: බේස්බෝල් (bēsbōl)
• Slovak: bejzbal (sk) m
• Slovene: baseball m
• Spanish: béisbol (es) m, beisbol (es) m
• Swahili: besiboli
• Swedish: baseboll (sv) c
• Tagalog: beysbol
• Tajik: бейсбол (tg) (beysbol)
• Thai: เบสบอล (bées-bɔn)
• Turkish: beyzbol (tr)
• Turkmen: beýzbol, beýsbol
• Ukrainian: бейсбо́л (uk) m (bejsból)
• Urdu: بیس بال (bes bāl)
• Uzbek: beysbol
• Vietnamese: bóng chày (vi)
• Yiddish: בײסבאָל (beysbol)

ball used in baseball-game

• Afrikaans: bofbal (af)
• Bulgarian: бейзболна топка f (bejzbolna topka)
• Cherokee: ᎠᎳᏍᎦᎶᏗ (alasgalodi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: honkbal (nl) m
• Finnish: baseball-pallo
• French: balle de baseball f
• Hungarian: baseball-labda
• Icelandic: hafnabolti (is) m, hornabolti m
• Japanese: 野球ボール (やきゅうボール, yakyūbōru)
• Korean: 야구공 (ko) (yagugong)
• Maltese: ballun tal-bejżbol
• Navajo: jooł
• Plautdietsch: Beebaul m
• Portuguese: bola de beisebol f (Brazil)
• Spanish: pelota beisbolera f, bola beisbolística f
• Swedish: baseboll (sv) c
• Turkish: beyzbol topu

variety of poker

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can

See also

• rounders
• softball
• wiffleball

Further reading

• Category:baseball on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• baseball on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• baseball on Wikiquote.Wikiquote
• baseball on Wikivoyage.Wikivoyage

Czech

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *gʷem-

Proto-Indo-European *-tis

Proto-Indo-European *gʷémtis

Proto-Hellenic *gʷə́tis

Ancient Greek βᾰ́σῐς (bắsĭs)bor.

Latin basis

Old French basebor.

Middle English base

English base

Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-der.

Proto-Germanic *balluz

Old English *beall

Middle English bal

English ball

English baseballubor.

Czech baseball

Unadapted borrowing from English baseball. First attested in the 20th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbɛjzbol]

Noun

baseball m inan

1. baseball

Declension

Declension of baseball (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	baseball	basebally
genitive	baseballu	baseballů
dative	baseballu	baseballům
accusative	baseball	basebally
vocative	baseballe	basebally
locative	baseballe, baseballu	baseballech
instrumental	baseballem	basebally

Danish

Etymology

From American English baseball.

Noun

baseball c (singular definite baseballen, not used in plural form)

1. baseball (ball game)

Declension

Declension of baseball

common gender	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	baseball	baseballen
genitive	baseballs	baseballens

See also

• rundbold
• softball

References

• “baseball” in Den Danske Ordbog

Finnish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English baseball.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbei̯sboːl/, [ˈbe̞i̯s̠bo̞ːl]
• Rhymes: -eisboːl
• Syllabification^(key): base‧ball
• Hyphenation^(key): base‧ball

Noun

baseball

1. baseball

Declension

Inflection of baseball (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		baseball	baseballit
genitive		baseballin	baseballien
partitive		baseballia	baseballeja
illative		baseballiin	baseballeihin
		singular	plural
nominative		baseball	baseballit
accusative	nom.	baseball	baseballit
	gen.	baseballin
genitive		baseballin	baseballien
partitive		baseballia	baseballeja
inessive		baseballissa	baseballeissa
elative		baseballista	baseballeista
illative		baseballiin	baseballeihin
adessive		baseballilla	baseballeilla
ablative		baseballilta	baseballeilta
allative		baseballille	baseballeille
essive		baseballina	baseballeina
translative		baseballiksi	baseballeiksi
abessive		baseballitta	baseballeitta
instructive		—	baseballein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of baseball (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative baseballini baseballini accusative nom. baseballini baseballini gen. baseballini genitive baseballini baseballieni partitive baseballiani baseballejani inessive baseballissani baseballeissani elative baseballistani baseballeistani illative baseballiini baseballeihini adessive baseballillani baseballeillani ablative baseballiltani baseballeiltani allative baseballilleni baseballeilleni essive baseballinani baseballeinani translative baseballikseni baseballeikseni abessive baseballittani baseballeittani instructive — — comitative — baseballeineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative baseballisi baseballisi accusative nom. baseballisi baseballisi gen. baseballisi genitive baseballisi baseballiesi partitive baseballiasi baseballejasi inessive baseballissasi baseballeissasi elative baseballistasi baseballeistasi illative baseballiisi baseballeihisi adessive baseballillasi baseballeillasi ablative baseballiltasi baseballeiltasi allative baseballillesi baseballeillesi essive baseballinasi baseballeinasi translative baseballiksesi baseballeiksesi abessive baseballittasi baseballeittasi instructive — — comitative — baseballeinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative baseballimme baseballimme accusative nom. baseballimme baseballimme gen. baseballimme genitive baseballimme baseballiemme partitive baseballiamme baseballejamme inessive baseballissamme baseballeissamme elative baseballistamme baseballeistamme illative baseballiimme baseballeihimme adessive baseballillamme baseballeillamme ablative baseballiltamme baseballeiltamme allative baseballillemme baseballeillemme essive baseballinamme baseballeinamme translative baseballiksemme baseballeiksemme abessive baseballittamme baseballeittamme instructive — — comitative — baseballeinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative baseballinne baseballinne accusative nom. baseballinne baseballinne gen. baseballinne genitive baseballinne baseballienne partitive baseballianne baseballejanne inessive baseballissanne baseballeissanne elative baseballistanne baseballeistanne illative baseballiinne baseballeihinne adessive baseballillanne baseballeillanne ablative baseballiltanne baseballeiltanne allative baseballillenne baseballeillenne essive baseballinanne baseballeinanne translative baseballiksenne baseballeiksenne abessive baseballittanne baseballeittanne instructive — — comitative — baseballeinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative baseballinsa baseballinsa accusative nom. baseballinsa baseballinsa gen. baseballinsa genitive baseballinsa baseballiensa partitive baseballiaan baseballiansa baseballejaan baseballejansa inessive baseballissaan baseballissansa baseballeissaan baseballeissansa elative baseballistaan baseballistansa baseballeistaan baseballeistansa illative baseballiinsa baseballeihinsa adessive baseballillaan baseballillansa baseballeillaan baseballeillansa ablative baseballiltaan baseballiltansa baseballeiltaan baseballeiltansa allative baseballilleen baseballillensa baseballeilleen baseballeillensa essive baseballinaan baseballinansa baseballeinaan baseballeinansa translative baseballikseen baseballiksensa baseballeikseen baseballeiksensa abessive baseballittaan baseballittansa baseballeittaan baseballeittansa instructive — — comitative — baseballeineen baseballeinensa

Synonyms

• amerikkalainen pesäpallo (archaic)

Derived terms

compounds

• baseball-pallo

Further reading

• “baseball”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English baseball.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɛz.bɔl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Paris)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

baseball m (uncountable)

1. post-1990 spelling of base-ball

Hungarian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English baseball.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbeːzboːl]
• Hyphenation: base‧ball
• Rhymes: -oːl

Noun

baseball (usually uncountable, plural baseballok)

1. (sports) baseball

Declension

Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	baseball	baseballok
accusative	baseballt	baseballokat
dative	baseballnak	baseballoknak
instrumental	baseballal	baseballokkal
causal-final	baseballért	baseballokért
translative	baseballá	baseballokká
terminative	baseballig	baseballokig
essive-formal	baseballként	baseballokként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	baseballban	baseballokban
superessive	baseballon	baseballokon
adessive	baseballnál	baseballoknál
illative	baseballba	baseballokba
sublative	baseballra	baseballokra
allative	baseballhoz	baseballokhoz
elative	baseballból	baseballokból
delative	baseballról	baseballokról
ablative	baseballtól	baseballoktól
non-attributive possessive – singular	baseballé	baseballoké
non-attributive possessive – plural	baseballéi	baseballokéi

Possessive forms of baseball

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	baseballom	baseballjaim
2nd person sing.	baseballod	baseballjaid
3rd person sing.	baseballja	baseballjai
1st person plural	baseballunk	baseballjaink
2nd person plural	baseballotok	baseballjaitok
3rd person plural	baseballjuk	baseballjaik

Derived terms

Compound words

• baseballsapka

Further reading

• baseball 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 2026).

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English baseball.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛz.bol/
• Rhymes: -ɛzbol

Noun

baseball m (invariable)

1. baseball

   Synonyms: (rare) pallabase, (informal) batti e corri

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From American English baseball.

Noun

baseball m (definite singular baseballen, uncountable)

1. baseball (ball game)

References

• “baseball” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “baseball” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From American English baseball.

Noun

baseball m (definite singular baseballen, uncountable)

1. baseball (ball game)

References

• “baseball” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Alternative forms

• bejsbol

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *gʷem-

Proto-Indo-European *-tis

Proto-Indo-European *gʷémtis

Proto-Hellenic *gʷə́tis

Ancient Greek βᾰ́σῐς (bắsĭs)bor.

Latin basis

Old French basebor.

Middle English base

English base

Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-der.

Proto-Germanic *balluz

Old English *beall

Middle English bal

English ball

English baseballubor.

Polish baseball

Unadapted borrowing from English baseball.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛjz.bɔl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛjzbɔl
• Syllabification: base‧ball

Noun

baseball m inan

1. (sports, uncountable) baseball (ball game)
2. (countable) baseball bat

   Synonym: bejsbolówka

Declension

Declension of baseball

	singular	plural
nominative	baseball	baseballe
genitive	baseballa/baseballu	baseballi/baseballów
dative	baseballowi	baseballom
accusative	baseballa/baseballu	baseballe
instrumental	baseballem	baseballami
locative	baseballu	baseballach
vocative	baseballu	baseballe

Derived terms

adjective

• baseballowy

nouns

• baseballista
• baseballówka

Further reading

• “baseball”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “baseball”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English baseball.

Noun

baseball m (uncountable)

1. unadapted form of beisebol

Further reading

• “baseball”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “baseball”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “baseball”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “baseball”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English baseball.

Noun

baseball n (uncountable)

1. baseball

Declension

singular only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	baseball	baseballul
genitive-dative	baseball	baseballului
vocative	baseballule

Swedish

Noun

baseball c

1. alternative form of baseboll

Declension

Declension of baseball

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	baseball	baseballs
	definite	baseballen	baseballens
plural	indefinite	baseballar	baseballars
	definite	baseballarna	baseballarnas

References

• “baseball”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “baseball”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)