acrobat
UK[ˈæk.rə.bæt]US[ˈæk.rə.bæt]
n
a performer who entertains people by doing difficult and skilful physical acts, such as walking on a rope high in the air or balancing on top of a large moving ball
Morpheme Breakdown
acro
bat
acro
high
bat
walker
Etymology
The word "acrobat" has a transparently literal origin in ancient Greek. It is a compound of akros ("high, at the tip") and batēs ("walker"), thus originally meaning "one who walks on tiptoe" or "one who walks aloft." This perfectly describes the core activity of ancient performers who danced on ropes or balanced on stilts. The term entered English via French in the early 19th century, retaining its original Greek logic to denote a performer of feats requiring agility and balance at a height. The semantic journey is direct, from a literal "high-walker" to the modern professional entertainer specializing in aerial and balancing acts.
Analysis
Structure: acro (high) + bat (walker)
- acro: From Greek akros, meaning "highest, topmost, at the extremity." It functions as a combining form indicating height or extremity.
- bat: From Greek batēs, meaning "walker" or "one who goes," derived from the verb bainein, "to go, to walk." It functions as an agent noun suffix.
Examples
The circus acrobat performed a breathtaking series of flips on the high wire.
To navigate the crowded market, he moved with the agility of an acrobat.
The software's new feature allows users to acrobatically manage multiple tasks at once, though the adjective form "acrobatic" is more common.