ballet

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English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
A photograph: one person wearing a dress (left) and a person wearing clothes (right)
A pas de deux of a production of the ballet Don Quixote.

Etymology

Borrowed from French ballet, from Italian balletto (“short dance, ballet”), diminutive form of ballo (“group dance”), from Late Latin ballō (“to dance”).

Pronunciation

Noun

ballet (countable and uncountable, plural ballets)

  1. A classical form of dance.
    a classically-trained ballet dancer
  2. 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!
  3. The company of persons who perform this dance.
    Zara joined the ballet at the age of 14.
  4. (music) A light part song, frequently with a fa-la-la chorus, common among Elizabethan and Italian Renaissance composers.
  5. (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.
  6. (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

Translations

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)

  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.
    • 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.

Translations

Translations

See also

Anagrams

Catalan

Noun

ballet m (plural ballets)

  1. ballet

Further reading

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

Noun

ballet c (singular definite balletten, plural indefinite balletter)

  1. ballet

Inflection

Declension of ballet
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative ballet balletten balletter balletterne
genitive ballets ballettens balletters balletternes

Descendants

  • → Greenlandic: balletti

Further reading

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French ballet, from Middle French ballet, from Italian balletto.

Pronunciation

Noun

ballet n (plural balletten, diminutive balletje n)

  1. ballet

Derived terms

Descendants

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian balletto.

Pronunciation

Noun

ballet m (plural ballets)

  1. ballet

Derived terms

Descendants

Descendants

Further reading

German

Pronunciation

Verb

ballet

  1. second-person plural subjunctive I of ballen

Latin

Pronunciation

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

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French ballet.

Pronunciation

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

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia