Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
ballet
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Remove ads
English
Etymology
Borrowed from French ballet, from Italian balletto (“short dance, ballet”), diminutive form of ballo (“group dance”), from Late Latin ballō (“to dance”).
Pronunciation
- (General American) enPR: bă-lāʹ, băʹlā('), IPA(key): /bælˈeɪ/, /ˈbæl(ˌ)eɪ/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈbal.eɪ/, /ˈbal.ɪ/
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /bælˈæɪ/
- (New Zealand) IPA(key): /bɛlˈæɪ/
- (Scotland) IPA(key): /bɐleː/, /bɐlɪː/
- Rhymes: -æleɪ, -æli, -eɪ
- Hyphenation: bal‧let
Noun
ballet (countable and uncountable, plural ballets)
- (dance) A classical form of dance.
- a classically-trained ballet dancer
- A theatrical presentation of such dancing, usually with music, sometimes in the form of a story.
- Let's go to the ballet in the theatre tomorrow!
- The company of persons who perform this dance.
- Zara joined the ballet at the age of 14.
- (music) A light part song, frequently with a fa-la-la chorus, common among Elizabethan and Italian Renaissance composers.
- (heraldry, uncommon) A (small) ball i.e. roundel on a coat of arms, called a bezant, plate, etc., according to colour.
- 1741, Richard Izacke, Remarkable Antiquities of the City of Exeter [...] by Richard Izacke [...] Second Edition:
- 9. Peter West, Ar. bears sable Ballets argent a Lyon Rampant.
- (figurative) Any intricate series of operations involving coordination between individuals.
- 1990, Historic Preservation: Quarterly of the National Council for Historic Sites and Buildings, volumes 42-43:
- Food preparation on a potager no doubt became a kitchen ballet in which pans were constantly shifted, coals constantly replenished, and grates shaken out.
- 1991, Stephen King, Needful Things:
- Henry Payton joined Alan on the sidelines during the conclusion of the oddly delicate ballet known as On-Scene Investigation.
Derived terms
- antiballet
- ballet boot
- balletcore
- ballet dad
- ballet dancer
- ballet flat
- ballet flats
- balletgoer
- balletgoing
- balletic
- balletlike
- ballet master
- balletmaster
- ballet mistress
- ballet mom
- ballet mum
- ballet music
- balletomane
- balletomania
- ballet on horseback
- ballet shoe
- ballet skiing
- ballet slipper
- ballet troupe
- balletwear
- fairy ballet
- nonballet
- preballet
- ski ballet
- water ballet
Translations
form of dance
|
theatrical presentation
|
company of persons
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Verb
ballet (third-person singular simple present ballets, present participle balleting, simple past and past participle balleted)
- (transitive, intransitive) To perform an action reminiscent of ballet dancing.
- 2014 Rutherford's Vascular Surgery E-Book - Page 1340
- Situations that typically require longer iliac limbs than the measurements suggest include extreme iliac tortuosity, “balleting” of the limbs (Endurant and Excluder) (Fig. 90-3), and the need to extend to the external iliac arteries. It these anatomic circumstances, it is prudent to choose a longer length when in doubt.
- 2016, Jacob Russell Dring, Endless the Chase:
- Unfortunately, he could only sustain so much abuse. Footfalls approached. Kanoa's lips smacked and his jaw hung open. His eyelids fluttered, their underlying gaze balleting without clarity. He felt beyond sick, and his world spun immensely. A garbled voice of incoherency seemed to be his only link to this realm of consciousness.
- 2017, Num Nums, “A Total Bust a Move”, in The ZhuZhus:
- Frankie's obviously going to ballet her way to the trophy.
- 2014 Rutherford's Vascular Surgery E-Book - Page 1340
Translations
Translations
|
See also
Anagrams
Remove ads
Catalan
Pronunciation
Noun
ballet m (plural ballets)
Further reading
- “ballet”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
- “ballet”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
- “ballet” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “ballet” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Remove ads
Chavacano
Etymology
Borrowed from English ballet, from French ballet, from Italian balletto (“short dance, ballet”), diminutive form of ballo (“ball”).
Noun
ballet
- ballet (dance tradition and style)
Cimbrian
Verb
ballet
Danish
Etymology
Either from French ballet or directly from Italian balletto, the diminutive form of ballo (“dance, ball”).
Pronunciation
Noun
ballet c (singular definite balletten, plural indefinite balletter)
Inflection
Descendants
- → Greenlandic: balletti
Further reading
- “ballet” in Den Danske Ordbog
Remove ads
Dutch
Etymology
Borrowed from French ballet, from Middle French ballet, from Italian balletto. An instance of spelling pronunciation.
Pronunciation
Noun
ballet n (plural balletten, diminutive balletje n)
Derived terms
- balletdanser
- balletdanseres
- balletles
- balletschoen
- balletzaal
- waterballet
Related terms
Descendants
- → Indonesian: balèt
- → Papiamentu: balèt
Remove ads
French
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
ballet m (plural ballets)
Derived terms
Descendants
Further reading
- “ballet”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Remove ads
German
Pronunciation
Verb
ballet
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈbal.lɛt]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈbal.let̪]
Verb
ballet
- third-person singular present active subjunctive of ballō (“to dance”)
Northern Sami
Pronunciation
Verb
ballet
Norwegian Bokmål
Noun
ballet n
Norwegian Nynorsk
Noun
ballet n
Spanish
Alternative forms
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French ballet.
Pronunciation
Noun
ballet m (countable and uncountable, plural ballets)
Usage notes
According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.
Derived terms
Further reading
- “ballet”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads