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Glite Dictionary
salto mortale

salto mortale

9.9
A daring acrobatic flip performed by gymnasts or circus performers
  • noun
  • /ˈsɑltoʊ mɔrˈtɑleɪ/
translation icon : salto mortal
  • He ended his routine with a difficult salto mortale that drew applause from the crowd.

Examples

  • Can you believe she did a salto mortale off the high dive?

  • The gymnast's salto mortale thrilled everyone in the stadium.

  • Few performers dare attempt the double salto mortale in competition.

  • The gymnast performed a stunning salto mortale during the competition.

  • He ended his routine with a difficult salto mortale that drew applause from the crowd.

  • The gymnast's salto mortale thrilled everyone in the stadium.

  • Can you believe she did a salto mortale off the high dive?

Synonyms

somersault
vssalto mortale
16 2.8

A movement where a person turns head over heels in the air or on the ground

is a daring performance version often shown in gymnastics or circus acts
acrobatic feat
vssalto mortale
1 6.1

A difficult, impressive physical move done by a skilled performer

is a specific daring head over heels rotation often in gymnastics or circus
somersaulting
vssalto mortale
4.0

A movement in which the body turns completely so the feet pass over the head

is the daring performance form rather than the simple act

How Daring

salto mortale
9.9
somersault
16 2.8

Surface Forms

salto mortale singular
salto mortales plural

Morphology

salto + mortale

The phrase is built from Romance words meaning roughly 'jump' (salto) + 'deadly/mortal' (mortale), so a learner who knows those constituents can infer a sense of a dangerous or daring jump. However, identifying it specifically as an acrobatic somersault relies on conventional phraseological usage (common in Romance languages) rather than pure compositional logic, so the relation is only partially predictable.

Etymology

The noun salto mortale comes from Italian and literally links salto, meaning 'jump', and mortale, meaning 'deadly'. One popular story says performers called very dangerous somersaults 'deadly' because a mistake could cause them to 'die', so today salto mortale means a very daring somersault.