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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

diabolo en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /dɪˈæbələʊ/ (UK)
  • (US) audio

Etymology

Borrowed from French diabolo, from older diable (literally “devil”), fancifully altered after cognate Italian diavolo and/or their common source, Latin diabolus. First attested in the early 20th century. The Latin noun is from Ancient Greek διάβολος (diábolos, “devil”), itself derived from the verb διαβάλλω (diabállō, “to slander”, literally “to throw across”). The notion that this literal sense of “throw across” could be applied to the diabolo itself has led some commentators to assume a direct semantic connection, but there is no evidence suggesting that it is anything other than a coincidence.

Meanings

  1. A juggling apparatus consisting of a spool which is whirled and tossed on a string attached to handsticks.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
diabolos Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

polyabolo

Synonyms

Chinese yo-yo

Translations (14)

fr diabolo (juggling apparatus) · es diábolo (juggling apparatus) · tr diabolo (juggling apparatus) · pt diábolo (juggling apparatus) · es diávolo (juggling apparatus) · ca diàbolo (juggling apparatus) · cmn 空竹 (juggling apparatus) · ru диа́боло (juggling apparatus) · nl diabolo (juggling apparatus) · fi lentojojo (juggling apparatus) · fi diabolo (juggling apparatus) · cs jojo (juggling apparatus) · pt diabolô (juggling apparatus) · it diabolo (juggling apparatus)