Online Etymology Dictionary

bait (v.1): "to torment or goad (someone unable to escape, and to take pleasure in it)," c. 1300, beyten, a figurative use from the literal sense of "to set dogs on," from the medieval entertainment of setting dogs on some ferocious animal to bite and worry it (the literal use is attested from c. 1300); from Old Norse beita "to cause to bite," from Proto-Germanic *baitan (source also of Old English bætan "to cause to bite," Old High German beizzen "to bait," Middle High German beiz "hunting," German beizen "to hawk, to cauterize, etch"), causative of *bitan (see bite (v.)); the causative word forked into the two meanings of "harass" and "food offered." Related: Baited; baiting.
bait (v.2): "to put food on a hook or in a trap," c. 1300, probably from bait (n.). Related: Baited; baiting.
baited (adj.): c. 1600, "furnished with bait," past participle adjective from bait (v.2). Hence, in a figurative sense, "exciting, alluring" (1650s). For bated breath see bate (v.1).
baize (n.): coarse woolen fabric, 1570s, bayse, from French baies, fem. plural of adjective bai "bay-colored," from Latin badius "chestnut-colored" (see bay (n.4)). Thus probably so called for its original color. French plural taken as a singular in English.
Baja: in place names (such as Baja California), Spanish baja, literally "lower," either in elevation or geography.
bake (v.): Old English bacan "to bake," from Proto-Germanic *bakan "to bake" (source also of Old Norse baka, Middle Dutch backen, Old High German bahhan, German backen), from PIE *bheg- (source also of Greek phogein "to roast"), extended form of root *bhe- "to warm" (see bath). Related: Baked (Middle English had baken); baking. Baked beans attested by 1803.
bake (n.): "social gathering at which baked food is served," 1846, American English, from bake (v.).
bakelite (n.): type of plastic widely used early 20c., 1909, from German Bakelit, named for Belgian-born U.S. physicist Leo Baekeland (1863-1944), who invented it. Originally a proprietary name, it is formed by the condensation of a phenol with an aldehyde.
baker (n.): Old English bæcere "baker," agent noun from bacan "to bake" (see bake (v.)). In the Middle Ages, the craft had two divisions, braun-bakeres and whit-bakeres.
White bakers shall bake no hors brede..broune bakers shall bake whete brede as it comyth grounde fro the mylle withoute ony bultyng of the same. Also the seid broune bakers shall bake hors brede of clene benys and pesyn, And also brede that is called housholdersbrede. [Letterbook in the City of London Records Office, Guildhall, 1441]
Baker's dozen "thirteen" is from 1590s.
These dealers [hucksters] ... on purchasing their bread from the bakers, were privileged by law to receive thirteen batches for twelve, and this would seem to have been the extent of their profits. Hence the expression, still in use, "A baker's dozen." [H.T. Riley, "Liber Albus," 1859]
bakery (n.): c. 1820, "place for making bread;" see bake (v.) + -ery. Replaced earlier bakehouse (c. 1400). As "shop where baked goods are sold" it was noted as an Americanism by British travelers from c. 1830.
baklava (n.): 1650s, from Turkish.
baksheesh (n.): 1620s, in India, Egypt, etc., "a tip," from Persian bakhshish, literally "gift," from verb bakhshidan "to give" (also "to forgive"), from PIE root *bhag- "to share out, apportion, distribute" (see -phagous).
balaclava (n.): "woolen head covering," especially worn by soldiers, evidently named for village near Sebastopol, Russia, site of a battle Oct. 25, 1854, in the Crimean War. But the term (originally Balaclava helmet) does not appear before 1881 and seems to have come into widespread use in the Boer War. The British troops suffered from the cold in the Crimean War, and the usage might be a remembrance of that conflict. The town name (Balaklava) often is said to be from Turkish, but is perhaps folk-etymologized from a Greek original Palakion.
balalaika (n.): stringed instrument with a triangular body, 1788, from Russian balalaika, said to be related to balabolit' "to chatter, babble," an imitative word.
balance (n.): early 13c., "apparatus for weighing," from Old French balance (12c.) "balance, scales for weighing," also in the figurative sense; from Medieval Latin bilancia, from Late Latin bilanx, from Latin (libra) bilanx "(scale) having two pans," possibly from Latin bis "twice" + lanx "dish, plate, scale of a balance." The accounting sense is from 1580s; the meaning "general harmony between parts" is from 1732; sense of "physical equipoise" is from 1660s. Balance of power in the geopolitical sense is from 1701. Many figurative uses (such as hang in the balance, late 14c.), are from Middle English image of the scales in the hands of personified Justice, Fortune, Fate, etc.
balance (v.): 1570s, "be equal with," from balance (n.). Meaning "bring or keep in equilibrium" is from 1630s; that of "keep oneself in equilibrium" is from 1833. Of accounts, from 1580s. Related: Balanced; balancing. Balanced meal, diet, etc. is from 1908.
balcony (n.): 1610s, from Italian balcone, from balco "scaffold," from a Germanic source (perhaps Langobardic *balko- "beam," cognate with Old English balca "beam, ridge;" see balk (n.)) + Italian augmentative suffix -one. Till c. 1825, regularly accented on the second syllable.
bald (adj.): c. 1300, ballede, probably, with Middle English -ede adjectival suffix + Celtic bal "white patch, blaze" especially on the head of a horse or other animal (from PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, gleam;" see bleach (v.)). Compare, from the same root, Sanskrit bhalam "brightness, forehead," Greek phalos "white," Latin fulcia "coot" (so called for the white patch on its head), Albanian bale "forehead." But connection with ball (n.1), on notion of "smooth, round" also has been suggested. Bald eagle first attested 1680s; so called for its white head.
balderdash (n.): 1590s, of unknown origin; originally a jumbled mix of liquors (milk and beer, beer and wine, etc.), transferred 1670s to "senseless jumble of words." From dash; first element perhaps cognate with Danish balder "noise, clatter" (see boulder).
baldness (n.): late 14c., from bald + -ness.
baldric (n.): c. 1300, "belt worn over the shoulder," from Old French baldre (Modern French baudrier "shoulder-belt"), which probably is from Latin balteus "belt," said by Varro to be of Etruscan origin. The English word perhaps influenced by Middle High German balderich (which itself is from the Old French).
Baldwin: masc. proper name, from Old French Baldoin (Modern French Baudouin), from a Germanic source similar to Old High German Baldawin, literally "bold friend," from bald "bold" (see bold) + wini "friend" (see win). A popular Flemish name, common in England before and after the Conquest.
baldy (n.): "bald-headed person," 1850, from bald + -y (3).
bale (n.): "large bundle or package," early 14c., from Old French bale "rolled-up bundle," from Frankish or some other Germanic source (such as Old High German balla "ball"), from Proto-Germanic *ball-, from PIE *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell" (see bole).
baleen (n.): early 14c., "whalebone," from Old French balaine (12c.) "whale, whalebone," from Latin ballaena, from Greek phallaina "whale" (apparently related to phallos "swollen penis," probably because of a whale's shape), from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, inflate, swell" (see bole). Klein writes that the Greek to Latin transition was "through the medium of the Illyrian language, a fact which explains the transition of Gk. -ph- into Latin -b- (instead of -p-)."
baleful (adj.): Old English bealu-full "dire, wicked, cruel," with -ful + bealu "harm, injury, ruin, evil, mischief, wickedness, a noxious thing," from Proto-Germanic *balwom (source also of Old Saxon balu, Old Frisian balu "evil," Old High German balo "destruction," Old Norse bol, Gothic balwjan "to torment"), from PIE root *bhelu- "to harm." During Anglo-Saxon times, the noun was in poetic use only (in compounds such as bealubenn "mortal wound," bealuðonc "evil thought"), and for long baleful has belonged exclusively to poets. Related: Balefully.
baler (n.): machine that makes bales, 1888, agent noun from bale (v.).
balk (n.): Old English balca "ridge, bank," from or influenced by Old Norse balkr "ridge of land," especially between two plowed furrows, both from Proto-Germanic *balkon- (source also of Old Saxon balko, Danish bjelke, Old Frisian balka, Old High German balcho, German Balken "beam, rafter"), from PIE *bhelg- "beam, plank" (source also of Latin fulcire "to prop up, support," fulcrum "bedpost;" Lithuanian balziena "cross-bar;" and possibly Greek phalanx "trunk, log, line of battle"). Modern senses are figurative, representing the balk as a hindrance or obstruction (see balk (v.)). Baseball sense is first attested 1845.
balk (v.): late 14c., "to leave an unplowed ridge when plowing," from balk (n.). Extended meaning "to omit, intentionally neglect" is mid-15c. Most modern senses are figurative, from the notion of a balk in the fields as a hindrance or obstruction: sense of "stop short" (as a horse confronted with an obstacle) is late 15c.; that of "to refuse" is 1580s. Related: Balked; balking.
Balkanize (v.): 1920, first used in reference to the Baltic states, on the model of what had happened in the Balkans; said to have been coined by English editor James Louis Garvin (1868-1947), but A.J. Toynbee (1922) credited it to "German Socialists" describing the results of the treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Either way, the reference is to the political situation in the Balkans c. 1878-1913, when the European section of the Ottoman Empire split up into small, warring nations. Balkanized and Balkanization both also are from 1920.
Balkans: probably from Turkic balkan "mountain."
balky (adj.): 1847, from balk (n.) + -y (2). Related: Balkily; balkiness.
ball (n.1): "round object," Old English *beal, from or corresponding to Old Norse bollr "ball," from Proto-Germanic *balluz (source also of Old High German ballo, German Ball), from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, inflate, swell" (see bole).

Meaning "testicle" is from early 14c. Ball of the foot is from mid-14c. A ball as an object in a sports game is recorded from c. 1200; To have the ball "hold the advantage" is from c. 1400. To be on the ball is 1912, from sports. Ball-point pen first recorded 1946. Ball of fire when first recorded in 1821 referred to "a glass of brandy;" as "spectacularly successful striver" it is c. 1900.
ball (n.2): "dancing party," 1630s, from French, from Old French baller "to dance," from Late Latin ballare "to dance," from Greek ballizein "to dance, jump about" (see ballistics). Hence, "very enjoyable time," 1945, American English slang, perhaps back to 1930s in African-American vernacular.
ball (v.): 1650s, "make into a ball," from ball (n.1). Sense of "to become like a ball" is 1713; that of "to copulate" is first recorded 1940s in jazz slang, either from the noun sense of "testicle" or "enjoyable time" (from ball (n.2)). Related: Balled; balling.
ball and chain (n.): a type of prisoner's restraint, 1818; as "one's wife," 1920.
ballad (n.): late 15c., from French ballade "dancing song" (13c.), from Old Provençal ballada "(poem for a) dance," from balar "to dance," from Late Latin ballare "to dance" (see ball (n.2)).
ballade (n.): late 14c., an earlier borrowing of ballad (q.v.) with a specific metrical sense. Technically, a poem consisting of one or more triplets of seven- (later eight-) lined stanzas, each ending with the same line as the refrain, usually with an envoy. Popularized 19c. as a type of musical composition by Frédéric Chopin. Ballade royal is recorded from late 15c.
Ballard: surname, attested from late 12c., probably meaning "bald head;" see Wyclif's "Stye up, ballard," where Coverdale translates "Come vp here thou balde heade" [2 Kg.2:23-24, where God kills 42 children for making fun of Elijah's lack of hair.]
ballast (n.): "heavy material used to steady a ship," 1520s, from Middle English bar "bare" (see bare; in this case "mere") + last "a load, burden," or borrowed from identical terms in North Sea Germanic and Scandinavian (compare Old Danish barlast, 14c.). "Mere" because not carried for commercial purposes. Dutch balg-last "ballast," literally "belly-load," is a folk-etymology corruption.
ballerina (n.): 1792, from Italian ballerina, literally "dancing girl," fem. of ballerino "dancer," from ballo "a dance" (see ball (n.2)). The Italian plural form ballerine formerly sometimes was used in English.
ballet (n.): 1660s, from French ballette from Italian balletto, diminutive of ballo "a dance" (see ball (n.2)). Balletomane attested by 1930.
ballista (n.): ancient war engine, late 14c., from Latin ballista, literally "a throwing machine," from Greek ballein "to throw" (see ballistics).
ballistic (adj.): 1775, "pertaining to thrown objects," ultimately from Greek ballein "to throw" (see ballistics). Of rockets or missiles (ones that are guided while under propulsion, but fall freely), from 1949. Ballistic missile first attested 1954; they attain extreme heights, hence figurative expression go ballistic (1981) "become irrationally angry."
ballistics (n.): 1753, "art of throwing; science of projectiles," with -ics + Latin ballista "ancient military machine for hurling stones," from Greek ballistes, from ballein "to throw, to throw so as to hit," also in a looser sense, "to put, place, lay;" from PIE root *gwele- (1) "to throw, reach," in extended senses "to pierce" (source also of Sanskrit apa-gurya "swinging," balbaliti "whirls, twirls;" Greek bole "a throw, beam, ray," belemnon "dart, javelin," belone "needle"). Here, too, probably belongs Greek ballizein "to dance," literally "to throw one's body," ancient Greek dancing being highly athletic.
ballocks (n.): "testicles," from Old English beallucas, plural diminutive of balle (see ball (n.1)).
ballon (n.): "smoothness in dancing, lightness of step," 1830, from French ballon, literally "balloon" (see balloon (n.)).
balloon (n.): 1570s, "a game played with a large inflated leather ball," from Italian pallone "large ball," from palla "ball," from a Germanic source akin to Langobardic palla (from Proto-Germanic *ball-, from PIE *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell;" see bole) + -one, suffix indicating great size.

Perhaps also borrowed in part from French ballon (16c.), altered (after balle) from Italian pallone. It also meant the ball itself (1590s), which was batted back and forth by means of large wooden paddles strapped to the forearms. In 17c., it also meant "a type of fireworks housed in a pasteboard ball" (1630s) and "round ball used as an architectural ornament" (1650s). Acquired modern meaning after Montgolfier brothers' flights, 1783. As a child's toy, it is attested from 1848; as "outline containing words in a comic engraving" it dates from 1844. Also see -oon.
balloon (v.): "to go up in a balloon," 1792; "to swell, puff up," 1841, from balloon (n.). Related: Ballooned; ballooning.
ballot (n.): 1540s, "small ball used in voting," also "secret vote taken by ballots," from Italian pallotte, diminutive of palla "ball," for small balls used as counters in secret voting (see balloon). Earliest references are to Venice. By 1776 extended to tickets or sheets of paper used in secret voting. Ballot box attested from 1670s; metonymically from 1834 as "system or practice of voting by ballot."