ditty

English

Etymology

From Middle English dite, ditee, from Old French ditie or dité, from ditier, from Latin dictāre (participle dictatus).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪti/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Homophone: diddy (t-flapping)
• Rhymes: -ɪti

Noun

ditty (plural ditties)

1. A short, simple verse or song.

   The Acme mattress ditty has been stuck in my head all day.

   • [1644], [John Milton], Of Education. To Master Samuel Hartlib, [London: […] Thomas Underhill and/or Thomas Johnson], →OCLC:

     religious, martial, or civil ditties

   • 1636, G[eorge] S[andys], “(please specify the page)”, in A Paraphrase upon the Psalmes of David. And upon the Hymnes Dispersed throughout the Old and New Testaments, London: [Andrew Hebb […]], →OCLC:

     And to the warbling lute soft ditties sing.

2. A saying or utterance, especially one that is short and frequently repeated.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 50:

     O, too high ditty for my simple rime.

3. Ellipsis of ditty bag.

Translations

a short verse or tune

Chinese: Mandarin: 小曲 (zh) (xiǎoqǔ) Czech: popěvek (cs) m, rýmovačka f Esperanto: kanteto French: chansonnette (fr) German: Ständchen (de) n Maori: ruriruri, pao, hakirara Russian: пе́сенка (ru) f (pésenka), моти́в (ru) m (motív) Spanish: cancioneta f, cancioncita (es) Swedish: trudelutt (sv) c

Verb

ditty (third-person singular simple present ditties, present participle dittying, simple past and past participle dittied)

1. To sing; to warble a little tune.
   • [1633], George Herbert, edited by [Nicholas Ferrar], The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC:

     Beasts fain would sing; birds ditty to their notes.

See also

• ditty bag, ditty box
• doggerel
• jingle