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balladlike

 - 3 dictionary results

bal⋅lad

  [bal-uhd]
Use balladlike in a Sentence
–noun
1. any light, simple song, esp. one of sentimental or romantic character, having two or more stanzas all sung to the same melody.
2. a simple narrative poem of folk origin, composed in short stanzas and adapted for singing.
3. any poem written in similar style.
4. the music for a ballad.
5. a sentimental or romantic popular song.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME balade < MF < OPr balada dance, dancing-song, equiv. to bal(ar) to dance (< LL ballāre; see ball 2 ) + -ada -ade 1

Related forms:
bal⋅lad⋅ic  [buh-lad-ik] , adjective
bal⋅lad⋅like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Cultural Dictionary

ballad

A simple narrative song, or, alternatively, a narrative poem suitable for singing. (See under “Conventions of Written English.”)

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

ballad 
1492, from O.Fr. ballade "dancing song," from O.Prov. ballada "(poem for a) dance," from L.L. ballare "to dance" (see ball (2)). Ballade, c.1386 (popularized 19c. as a type of musical composition by Frédéric Chopin), represents an earlier borrowing of the same O.Fr. word. Technically, a poem consisting of one or more triplets of seven- (later eight-) lined stanzas, each ending with the same line as the refrain, usually with an envoy.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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