somersault

Or som·er·set

[suhm-er-sawlt]

noun

1. an acrobatic movement, either forward or backward, in which the body rolls end over end, making a complete revolution.

2. such a movement performed in the air as part of a dive, tumbling routine, etc.

3. a complete overturn or reversal, as of opinion.

verb (used without object)

1. to perform a somersault.

somersault

/ ˈsʌməˌsɔːlt /

noun

1. 1. a forward roll in which the head is placed on the ground and the trunk and legs are turned over it

   2. a similar roll in a backward direction

2. an acrobatic feat in which either of these rolls are performed in midair, as in diving or gymnastics

3. a complete reversal of opinion, policy, etc

verb

1. (intr) to perform a somersault

Word History and Origins

Origin of somersault¹

1520–30; < Middle French sombresaut, alteration of sobresault; compare Old Provençal sobre over (< Latin super ), saut a leap (< Latin saltus )

Word History and Origins

Origin of somersault¹

C16: from Old French soubresault, probably from Old Provençal sobresaut, from sobre over (from Latin super ) + saut a jump, leap (from Latin saltus )

Example Sentences

But what they hadn’t known and discovered with the help of my analysis was that the forces associated with wake turbulence can be so great that they can somersault a plane out of the sky.

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With her hands steady at the controls, her voice calm as she spoke to mission control, Collins piloted the craft through a slow, graceful somersault.

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Meanwhile, Del Toro amps up the action, starting the film off with a ghastly great sequence in which Elordi’s Creature punches a sailor so hard his spine snaps into a backward somersault.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

After a Red Bull aerobatic helicopter improbably flipped over its rotor and pulled itself out of a dive at the last second, a group of children near the shore started imitating the maneuver in somersaults.

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Children somersaulted into a pool as adults sipped cocktails and dined on burgers, blue- and orange-striped umbrellas shielding them from the summer sun.

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Related Words

• bounce 
• bound 
• dive 
• drop 
• fall 
• hop 
• plummet 
• skip 
• surge 
• take 
• top 
• vault