Phrase guide

association football

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A ball game played between two teams of eleven players, each attempting to win by scoring more goals than their opponent.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: football, footy, soccer, association football, soccer football, footie, footer, oikball, wogball, American football, gridiron, gridiron football, Canadian football, Aussie rules, VFL, AFL, league, ball, pill, soccer ball, pigskin, rugby ball

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a football game in which two teams of 11 players try to kick or head a ball into the opponents' goal

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: soccer

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: football, football game

History

Etymology

From it being the form of football codified and promoted by the The Football Association.

Across languages

Translations

32 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: ֆուտբոլ (futbol) — soccer
  • Chinese Cantonese: 足球 (zuk1 kau4) — soccer
  • Hakka Chinese: 足球 (chiuk-khiù) — soccer
  • Hakka Chinese: 足球 (chuk-khiù) — soccer
  • Chinese: 跤球 (zh-min-nan) — soccer
  • Chinese Mandarin: 足球 (zúqiú) — soccer
  • Chukchi: ӄапԓёчеттыргын (qapḷjočettyrgyn) — soccer
  • Czech: fotbal — soccer
  • Czech: kopaná — soccer
  • Danish: fodbold — soccer
  • Dutch: voetbal — soccer
  • Faroese: fótbóltur — soccer
  • Finnish: jalkapallo — soccer
  • French: football — soccer
  • French: soccer — soccer
  • German: Fußball — soccer
  • Greek: ποδόσφαιρο (podósfairo) — soccer
  • Hungarian: labdarúgás — soccer
  • Indonesian: sepak bola — soccer
  • Italian: calcio — soccer
  • Latvian: futbols — soccer
  • Latvian: kājbumba — soccer
  • Polish: piłka nożna — soccer
  • Portuguese: futebol — soccer
  • Romanian: fotbal — soccer
  • Russian: футбо́л (futból) — soccer
  • Spanish: fútbol — soccer
  • Swedish: fotboll — soccer
  • Tajik: футбол (futbol) — soccer
  • Turkish: futbol — soccer
  • Urdu: ایسوسی ایشن فٹ بال — soccer
  • Vietnamese: bóng đá — soccer