Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web

aubade

 - 3 dictionary results

au⋅bade

[oh-bad, oh-bahd; Fr. oh-bad]
–noun, plural au⋅bades [oh-badz, oh-bahdz; Fr. oh-bad] . Music.
a piece sung or played outdoors at dawn, usually as a compliment to someone.

Origin:
1670–80; < F, MF, equiv. to aube (< Pr alba song about the parting of two lovers at dawn < VL, n. use of fem. of L albus white, clear) + -ade -ade 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To aubade
au·bade   (ō-bäd')   
n.  
  1. A song or instrumental composition concerning, accompanying, or evoking daybreak.

  2. A poem or song of or about lovers separating at dawn.


[French, from Old French albade, from Old Provençal albada, from alba, dawn, aubade, from Latin, feminine of albus, white; see albho- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Encyclopedia

aubade

in the music of the troubadours, the 11th- and 12th-century poet-musicians of southern France, a song of lament for lovers parting at dawn or of a watchman's warning to lovers at dawn. A song of the latter type sometimes takes the form of a dialogue between a watchman and a lover. Some sources consider the alba an early form of an aubade, though unlike the alba an aubade is usually a celebration of the dawn. Examples of albas for which music also survives include Reis glorios by Giraut de Bornelh (c. 1140-c. 1200) and the anonymous Gaite de la tor. The minnesingers, the German counterparts of the troubadours, also used the form, calling it Tagelied ("day song").

Learn more about aubade with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see aubade on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us: