Where does the Dutch word “salto” come from?

Salto is the Dutch word for a somersault or flip, and it’s a direct, unchanged borrowing from Italian, where salto simply means “jump.” Both salto and the English word “somersault” trace back to the same Latin root, saltus (“a leap”) — Dutch just kept the word intact, while English reshaped it through French into something that no longer looks related at all.

English got there the long way round: saltus became Old Provençal sobresaut (“jump over”), then Middle French sombresault, before landing as “somersault” — three languages removed from its Latin root. Spanish and Portuguese also kept salto largely intact, which is why Dutch, Spanish and Italian gymnasts all shout the same word for the same move, while English speakers use one that no longer looks like a jump at all.