Standard Lemma guide
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.
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noun
The ball of the foot, the padded front part of the sole behind the tip of the toes; hence, a ballet position executed with the dancer up on the balls of one or both feet, the heels raised up off the floor.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Qualifier: ballet
Topics: anatomy, medicine, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
From demi- (“half”) + pointe (“tip of the toe”), via Old French demi from Latin dīmidius (“halved”), combined with French pointe (“point, tip”) from Late Latin pūnctum; in this sense short for pointe des pieds (“tippy-toe”, literally “tip of the feet”); cf. French sur la pointe des pieds (“on tiptoe”).
