# balloon

> English word · Noun · IPA /bəˈluːn/ · frequency rank #8,241

## Definitions
1. An inflatable buoyant object, often (but not necessarily) round and flexible.
2. Such an object as a child’s toy or party decoration.
3. Such an object designed to transport people or equipment through the air.
4. A sac inserted into part of the body for therapeutic reasons; such as angioplasty.
5. A speech bubble.
6. A wide rounded glass with a stem and foot, used for wine, brandy, etc.
7. A ball or globe on the top of a pillar, church, etc.
8. A round vessel, usually with a short neck, to hold or receive whatever is distilled; a glass vessel of a spherical form.
9. A bomb or shell.
10. A game played with a large inflated ball.
11. The outline enclosing words represented as coming from the mouth of a pictured figure.
12. A woman's breast.
13. A small container for illicit drugs made from a condom or the finger of a latex glove, etc.
14. Synonym of balloon payment.

## Etymology
First use appears c. 1591, "a game played with a large, inflated leather ball" (possibly via Middle French ballon) from Italian pallone (“large ball”) from palla (“ball”), from Lombardic *palla. The Northern Italian form, balla (“ball-shaped bundle”), today a doublet, likely derived from Old French balle, from Frankish *balla (“ball”), and may have influenced the spelling of this word. Both Germanic words are from Proto-Germanic *ballô (“ball”), *balluz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰoln- (“bubble”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to blow, swell, inflate”). Akin to Old High German ballo, bal (“ball”), (German Ballen (“bale”); Ball "ball"). Doublet of ballon. More at ball.

## Easily confused with
- **ballot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/balloon-vs-ballot)
- **billion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/balloon-vs-billion)
- **bullion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/balloon-vs-bullion)
- **balloons** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/balloon-vs-balloons)
- **ballroom** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/balloon-vs-ballroom)
- **ballon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ballon-vs-balloon)
- **baboon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/baboon-vs-balloon)

## Common misspellings (7)
`ablloon`, `ballono`, `balloonn`, `balolon`, `baloon`, `bballoon`, `blaloon`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/balloon