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ba·lay·age (bälā-äzh)
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n.
A technique of coloring hair in which the stylist applies the color by hand to create natural-looking, graduated layers of highlights with a less apparent regrowth line than in traditional highlighting.

[French, a sweeping, balayage, from balayer, to sweep, from Middle French, from Old French balaier, from balai, besom, alteration (influenced by baloi-, stem of baloier, to move about agitatedly, from Late Latin ballāre, to dance; see BALL2) of earlier Old French balain, either from Breton balazn, besom, or from Gaulish *balatno-, the broom plant (Cytisus scoparius), both Breton and Gaulish from earlier Celtic *banatlo-; see bhā in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

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.