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ballet.

A classical form of dance.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈbæleɪ/Received-Pronunciation/ˈbæ.lɪ/Received-Pronunciation, obsolete/ˈbæ.lɪt/Received-Pronunciation/bæˈleɪ/General-American

  1. A classical form of dance.

    countable · uncountable
    a classically-trained ballet dancer

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

    countable · uncountable
    Let's go to the ballet in the theatre tomorrow!

  3. The company of persons who perform this dance.

    countable · uncountable
    Zara joined the ballet at the age of 14.

  4. A light part song, frequently with a fa-la-la chorus, common among Elizabethan and Italian Renaissance composers.

    countable · uncountable

  5. A (small) ball i.e. roundel on a coat of arms, called a bezant, plate, etc., according to colour.

    countable · uncommon · uncountable

  6. Any intricate series of operations involving coordination between individuals.

    countable · figuratively · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-der. Late Latin ballāre Italian ballare Italian ballo Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Italic *-tosder.? Late Latin -ittus Italian -etto Italian ballettobor. French balletbor. English ballet Borrowed from French ballet, from Italian balletto (“short dance, ballet”), diminutive form of ballo (“group dance”) (cognate with Old French bal, whence English ball), from Late Latin ballō (“to dance”).

verb/ˈbæleɪ/Received-Pronunciation/ˈbæ.lɪ/Received-Pronunciation, obsolete/ˈbæ.lɪt/Received-Pronunciation/bæˈleɪ/General-American

  1. To perform an action reminiscent of ballet dancing.

    intransitive · transitive
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-der. Late Latin ballāre Italian ballare Italian ballo Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Italic *-tosder.? Late Latin -ittus Italian -etto Italian ballettobor. French balletbor. English ballet Borrowed from French ballet, from Italian balletto (“short dance, ballet”), diminutive form of ballo (“group dance”) (cognate with Old French bal, whence English ball), from Late Latin ballō (“to dance”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.