ballast

ballast

See also: Ballast

English

WOTD – 4 October 2007

Etymology

From Middle English bar (“bare”) + last (“load”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /ˈbæl.əst/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æləst

Noun

ballast (usually uncountable, plural ballasts)

1. (nautical) Heavy material that is placed in the hold of a ship (or in the gondola of a balloon), to provide stability.
2. (figuratively) Anything that steadies emotion or the mind.
3. Coarse gravel or similar material laid to form a bed for roads or railroads, or in making concrete; track ballast.
4. (construction) A material, such as aggregate or precast concrete pavers, which employs its mass and the force of gravity to hold single-ply roof membranes in place.
5. (countable, electricity, electronics) device used for stabilizing current in an electric circuit (e.g. in a tube lamp supply circuit)
6. (figurative) That which gives, or helps to maintain, uprightness, steadiness, and security.
   • 2018 June 17, Barney Ronay, “Mexico’s Hirving Lozano stuns world champions Germany for brilliant win”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎, London: Guardian News & Media, ISSN 0261-3077, OCLC 229952407, archived from the original on 5 August 2019:

     With 73 minutes gone Rafael Márquez came on to add ballast at the back, appearing in his fifth World Cup aged 39 and with alleged links to drug trafficking, which he denies, on hold for now. And so they sat deep with a thin green line of five defenders ranged across their own penalty area as the game became a Mexican stand-off, attack versus defence.

   • a. 1677, Isaac Barrow, The Profitableness of Godliness

     It [piety] is the right ballast of prosperity.

Derived terms

• autoballaster
• ballast resistor
• ballast tank
• ballast wagon
• in ballast
• in ballast condition

 

Translations

heavy material placed in the hold of a vessel

Albanian: balast (sq) Bulgarian: баласт (bg) (balast) Catalan: llast (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 壓載／压载 (zh) (yāzài) Czech: zátěž f Danish: ballast Dutch: ballast (nl) m Esperanto: balasto Estonian: ballast (et) Faroese: barlast f, kjølfesta f, studningur m Finnish: painolasti (fi), paarlasti (fi) French: lest (fr) m German: Ballast (de) m Greek: έρμα (el) n (érma), σαβούρα (el) (savoúra) Ancient: ἕρμα n (hérma) Greenlandic: ballasti Hungarian: ballaszt (hu), holtsúly (hu) Ido: balasto (io) Indonesian: balas (id) Italian: zavorra (it) f Japanese: バラスト (barasuto) Maori: taowaka, pēhanga kowhatu Norwegian: Bokmål: ballast m Nynorsk: ballast m Ottoman Turkish: صافره‎ Polish: balast (pl) m Portuguese: lastro (pt) m Romanian: balast (ro), lest (ro) Russian: балла́ст (ru) m (ballást) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: баласт m Roman: balast (sh) m Spanish: lastre (es) m Swedish: barlast (sv) c, ballast (sv) c Tagalog: tulakbahala Thai: อับเฉา (th) (àp-chǎo) Turkish: balast (tr), safra (tr)

anything that steadies emotion or mind

Spanish: lastre (es) m

material laid to form a bed for a road

Albanian: balast (sq) Bulgarian: баластра (balastra) Dutch: bedding (nl) f, ballastbed (nl) n Esperanto: balasto Estonian: ballast (et) Finnish: (for railroads) raidesora, raidesepeli, tukikerros French: remblai (fr) m, ballast (fr) m German: Bettung f, Schotter (de) m Hebrew: רבד‎ (he) m (reved) Ido: balasto (io) Indonesian: balas (id) Italian: massicciata (it) f Norwegian: ballast m (for railroads), fundament n Ottoman Turkish: بالاست‎ (balast) Polish: balast (pl) m, podsypka f Portuguese: balastro (pt) m Romanian: pietriș (ro) n, balast (ro) n, blocaj (ro) n Spanish: balastro m, balasto (es) m Swedish: barlast (sv) c, ballast (sv) c Turkish: balast (tr)

electronics

Bulgarian: товар (bg) (tovar) Dutch: ballast (nl) m Estonian: ballast (et) Finnish: kuristin (fi), virranrajoitin, elektroninen virranrajoitin French: ballast (fr) m Italian: regolatore (it) m Romanian: balast (ro) Spanish: balasto (es) m, balastra f (Spain), balastro f (Am.) Thai: บัลลาสต์ (ban-làat)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Ido: (please verify) balasto (io)

Verb

ballast (third-person singular simple present ballasts, present participle ballasting, simple past and past participle ballasted)

1. To stabilize or load a ship with ballast.
2. To lay ballast on the bed of a railroad track.
   • 1943 September and October, “Railway Construction and Operation at War Department Depots”, in Railway Magazine, page 262:

     The task of a Railway Construction Company, R.E., is to lay and ballast the track; [...].

3. To weigh down with a ballast.
   • 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, Sydney: Ure Smith, published 1962, OCLC 751607287, page 35:

     The noosance was […] that to make the umbrella effective he would have to carry abroad such weight to ballast it as would put the whole contraption out of action for carrying abroad at all.

Derived terms

• reballast, reballasting

Translations

to stabilize a ship with ballast

Albanian: balastoj Catalan: llastar (ca) Estonian: ballastima Finnish: ottaa painolastia French: ballaster (fr) Ido: balastizar (io) Latin: saburro Maori: tauta Norwegian: ballaste Polish: balastować impf Spanish: lastrar (es)

to lay ballast on the bed of a railway track

Albanian: balastoj Estonian: ballastima Finnish: sepelöidä (fi) German: beschottern (de) Ido: balastizar (io)

to weigh down with a ballast

Finnish: tasapainottaa (fi) Polish: balastować impf

Gallery

• 
  Ballast provides a supporting bed for rail tracks
• 
  Several typical styles of magnetic ballasts for fluorescent lamps

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Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch ballast.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɑˈlɑst/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bal‧last
• Rhymes: -ɑst
• Homophone: Ballast

Noun

ballast m (plural ballasten)

1. (now chiefly uncountable) ballast (weights used in ships or aerostats)
2. (figurative, uncountable) baggage (something that hampers functioning)

Derived terms

• ballastscheeps

Descendants

• Afrikaans: ballas
• → Indonesian: balas
• → Papiamentu: balaster, balastu

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba.last/

• Audio (Fr)

  (file)

• Audio (Paris)

  (file)

Noun

ballast m (plural ballasts)

1. (nautical) heavy material that is placed in the hold of a ship (or in the gondola of a balloon), to provide stability
2. coarse gravel or similar material laid to form a bed for roads or railroads

Descendants

• → Ottoman Turkish: بالاست‎ (balast)
  • Turkish: balast
• → Romanian: balast n

Further reading

• “ballast”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Middle Low German barlast.

Noun

ballast m (definite singular ballasten, indefinite plural ballaster, definite plural ballastene)

1. ballast

References

• “ballast” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Middle Low German barlast.

Noun

ballast m (definite singular ballasten, indefinite plural ballastar, definite plural ballastane)
ballast f (definite singular ballasta, indefinite plural ballaster, definite plural ballastene)

1. ballast

References

• “ballast” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Swedish

Noun

ballast c

1. Alternative form of barlast (“ballast”)

Declension

Declension of ballast
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	ballast	ballasten	ballaster	ballasterna
Genitive	ballasts	ballastens	ballasters	ballasternas

Adjective

ballast

1. superlative predicative form of ball.

References

• ballast in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• ballast in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• ballast in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)