'ballpoint' originates from Modern English, a compound of the words 'ball' and 'point', where 'ball' referred to the small spherical tip and 'point' referred to the tip or end.

'ballpoint' arose in the 20th century in reference to the 'ballpoint pen' popularized after inventions by László Bíró and others; the compound combined 'ball' + 'point' to name the new style of pen and then became established as the noun 'ballpoint' and its plural 'ballpoints'.

Initially it described the ball-shaped tip ('ball' + 'point'), but over time it came to refer to the pen that uses that tip, and now commonly denotes the writing instrument itself ('ballpoint pen').