ballet

English Online Dictionary. What means ballet‎? What does ballet mean?

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)

2. (dance) A classical form of dance.

4. A theatrical presentation of such dancing, usually with music, sometimes in the form of a story.

5. The company of persons who perform this dance.

6. (music) A light part song, frequently with a fa-la-la chorus, common among Elizabethan and Italian Renaissance composers.
7. (heraldry, uncommon) A (small) ball i.e. roundel on a coat of arms, called a bezant, plate, etc., according to colour.
8. (figurative) Any intricate series of operations involving coordination between individuals.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

ballet (third-person singular simple present ballets, present participle balleting, simple past and past participle balleted)

1. 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.

Translations

See also

• mime
• modern dance

Anagrams

• betall

Catalan

Noun

ballet m (plural ballets)

1. ballet

Further reading

• “ballet” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “ballet”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “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.

Chavacano

Etymology

Borrowed from English ballet, from French ballet, from Italian balletto (“short dance, ballet”), diminutive form of ballo (“ball”).

Noun

ballet

1. ballet (dance tradition and style)

Cimbrian

Verb

ballet

1. inflection of ballan:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person plural present indicative
   3. second-person plural present subjunctive
   4. second-person plural imperative

Danish

Etymology

Either from French ballet or directly from Italian balletto, the diminutive form of ballo (“dance, ball”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /balɛt/, [b̥aˈlɛd̥]

Noun

ballet c (singular definite balletten, plural indefinite balletter)

1. ballet

Inflection

Descendants

• → Greenlandic: balletti

Further reading

• “ballet” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French ballet, from Middle French ballet, from Italian balletto. An instance of spelling pronunciation.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɑˈlɛt/
• Hyphenation: bal‧let
• Rhymes: -ɛt

Noun

ballet n (plural balletten, diminutive balletje n)

1. ballet

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

• → Indonesian: balèt
• → Papiamentu: balèt

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian balletto.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba.lɛ/

Noun

ballet m (plural ballets)

1. ballet

Derived terms

• ballet à ski
• ballet-féerie
• corps de ballet
• maître de ballet

Descendants

Further reading

• “ballet”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

German

Pronunciation

Verb

ballet

1. second-person plural subjunctive I of ballen

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈbal.let/, [ˈbälːʲɛt̪]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈbal.let/, [ˈbälːet̪]

Verb

ballet

1. third-person singular present active subjunctive of ballō (“to dance”)

Northern Sami

Pronunciation

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈpalleh(t)/

Verb

ballet

1. inflection of ballat:
   1. third-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person singular past indicative
   3. second-person plural imperative

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

ballet n

1. definite singular of ball (Etymology 2)

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

ballet n

1. definite singular of ball (Etymology 2)

Spanish

Alternative forms

• balé (rare)

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French ballet.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baˈle/ [baˈle]
  • Rhymes: -e
• IPA^(key): /baˈlet/ [baˈlet̪]
  • Rhymes: -et

Noun

ballet m (countable and uncountable, plural ballets)

1. ballet

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], 2024 December 10