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balance beam

1. A horizontal raised beam with a width of 10 centimeters (4 inches) and a length of 5 meters (16 feet) that is used in gymnastic competition for balancing exercises.

2. A competitive gymnastics event in which various balancing feats are performed on this beam.

(click for a larger image)

balance beam

Evgenia Zafeiraki of Greece at the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships

Stuttgart, Germany

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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