▪ I. † ˈballard1 Obs.
[app. f. ball n.3 + -ard. Cf. bald.]
A bald-headed person.
| 1382 Wyclif 2 Kings ii. 23 And scorneden to hym seying, Stye up, ballard! 1485 Caxton Trevisa's Higden i. xxv. 25 One sayde to Julius..Salue calue, that is hayll balard. |
▪ II. † ballard2 Obs.
A kind of musical instrument.
| 1625 Purchas Pilgrims ii. 1573 Their ballards are a foot aboue ground, hollow vnder, with some seventeen Keyes on the top, on which the Player strikes..with two strikes a foot long, with balls fastned on the end. |
[Origin obscure; perh. f. Manding bala xylophone (see *balafon n.) + -ard.] A xylophone of W. Africa, similar to the balafon.
| 1623 R. Jobson Golden Trade 106, I would acquaint you of their most principall instrument, which is called Ballards made to stand a foot above the ground. 1625 Purchas Pilgrimes II. ix. xiii. 1573 Their Ballards are a foot aboue ground, hollow vnder, with some seuenteene Keyes on the top, on which the Player strikes..with two stickes a foot long, with Balls fastened on the end. |