ballad
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From French ballade, from Old Occitan ballada (“poem for a dance”), from Late Latin ballare. Doublet of ballade.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]ballad (plural ballads)
- A kind of narrative poem, adapted for recitation or singing; especially, a sentimental or romantic poem in short stanzas.
- The poet composed a ballad praising the heroic exploits of the fallen commander.
- 1882, John Ashton, “Origin of Ballads”, in John Skelton, A Ballade of the Scottysshe Kynge. […], London: Elliot Stock, […], →OCLC, page 1:
- Of all varieties of poetry, the Ballad, in the form which it affects among us, in distinction to other countries, is, perhaps, one of the most attractive.
- 1885, Gilbert and Sullivan, The Mikado, act 1:
- A wandering minstrel I — / A thing of shreds and patches, / Of ballads, songs and snatches, / And dreamy lullaby!
- A slow romantic song.
- On Friday nights, the roller rink had a time-block called "Lovers' Lap" when they played nothing but ballads on the overhead speakers.
- He was playing the guitar and singing a ballad to his girlfriend while she was playing the drums.
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]narrative poem
|
slow romantic song
|
Verb
[edit]ballad (third-person singular simple present ballads, present participle ballading, simple past and past participle balladed)
- (obsolete) To make mention of in ballads.
- (intransitive) To compose or sing ballads.
Translations
[edit]to compose or sing ballads
|
References
[edit]- ^ Hall, Joseph Sargent (1942 March 2) “3. The Consonants”, in The Phonetics of Great Smoky Mountain Speech (American Speech: Reprints and Monographs; 4), New York: King's Crown Press, , →ISBN, § 6, page 98.
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *gʷelH-
- English terms borrowed from French
- English terms derived from French
- English terms derived from Old Occitan
- English terms derived from Late Latin
- English doublets
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English verbs
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English intransitive verbs
- en:Poetry