बाल

• (Delhi) IPA^(key): /bɑːl/,

Inherited from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀯𑀸𑀮 (vāla), from Sanskrit वाल (vāla). Cognate with Assamese বাল (bal, “pubic hair”).

बाल • (bāl) m (Urdu spelling بال)

1. hair

   Synonym: केश (keś)

   इस लड़की के पास बहुत लंबे-लंबे बाल हैं।

   is laṛkī ke pās bahut lambe-lambe bāl ha͠i.

   This girl has very long hair.

   बालों की ज़ुल्फ़ें ― bālõ kī zulfẽ ― tresses of the hair

Borrowed from Sanskrit बाल (bāla).

बाल • (bāl) m (Urdu spelling بال)

1. (chiefly in compounds) child, boy

   Synonym: बच्चा (baccā)

Borrowed from Classical Persian بال (bāl), from Middle Persian b’lk’ (bālag, “wing”).

बाल • (bāl) m (Urdu spelling بال)

1. wing

• McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) “बाल”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press
• Bahri, Hardev (1989) “बाल”, in Siksarthi Hindi-Angrejhi Sabdakosa [Learners' Hindi-English Dictionary], Delhi: Rajpal & Sons.
• Caturvedi, Mahendra, Bhola Nath Tiwari (1970) “बाल”, in A practical Hindi-English dictionary, Delhi: National Publishing House

बाल m

1. Devanagari script form of bāla (“child, fool”)
2. Devanagari script form of bāla (“hair”)

बाल

1. Devanagari script form of bāla (“young”)

The origin is uncertain.

Perhaps a vṛddhi derivative of बल (bala, “strength”), denoting the potential and eventual power of youth; compare Lithuanian viekà (“power”) and vaikas (“child”) for an etymologically related pair (with each other, not to बाल) with similar semantic connection.

Alternatively, imitative of the babbling of little children; compare बल्बला (balbalā, “to stammer”).

Finally, has been connected by Kuiper to Proto-Munda; compare Santali bale (“fresh, tender”) and Ho bāle (“young”), ultimately from Proto-Munda *bāle. Though this comparison is phonetically and semantically sound, it is unlikely for a Vedic word of such basic significance to be a loanword. In this case, the Munda words are from Sanskrit, possibly via a Prakrit.

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /bɑː.lɐ/
• (Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /ˈbɑː.l̪ɐ/

बाल • (bāla) stem, m

1. boy; child

   न बालः अस्मि।

   na bālaḥ asmi.

   I am not a boy.

2. fool, simpleton

• बालक (bālaka)
• बालकेलि (bālakeli)

• Pali: bāla
  • → Khmer: ពាល (piəl)
  • → Thai: พาล (paan)
• → Assamese: বাল (bal)
• → Bengali: বাল (bal)
• → Gujarati: બાળ (bāḷ)
• → Hindi: बाल (bāl)
• → Marathi: बाळ (bāḷ)
• → Old Javanese: wāla, bāla
  • > Javanese: ꦮꦭ (wala) (inherited)
• Saraiki: ٻال (ḇāl)
• → Tamil: பாலன் (pālaṉ)
• ⇒ Telugu: బాలుండు (bāluṇḍu)

बाल • (bāla) stem

1. childish, immature
2. newly-risen (of the sun)
3. (astronomy) waxing (of the moon)
4. simple, foolish

• Monier Williams (1899) “बाल”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, , new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 728, column 3.
• Mayrhofer, Manfred (1996) Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎ (in German), volume II, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, page 223
• Mayrhofer, Manfred (1963) Kurzgefasstes Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindischen [A Concise Etymological Sanskrit Dictionary]‎ (in German), volume II, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, page 426