== Etymology ==The first known use of the word "ball" in English in the sense of a globular body that is played with was in 1205 in "" in the phrase, "" The word came from the Middle English "bal" (inflected as "ball-e, -es", in turn from Old Norse "böllr" (pronounced ; compare Old Swedish "baller," and Swedish "boll") from Proto-Germanic "ballu-z," (whence probably Middle High German "bal, ball-es," Middle Dutch "bal"), a cognate with Old High German "ballo, pallo," Middle High German balle from Proto-Germanic "*ballon" (weak masculine), and Old High German "ballâ, pallâ," Middle High German "balle," Proto-Germanic "*ballôn" (weak feminine).