ballerina
Americannoun
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a principal female dancer in a ballet company.
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any female ballet dancer.
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a woman's very low-heeled or heelless shoe or slipper, made to resemble a ballet slipper.
noun
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a female ballet dancer
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the principal female dancer of a ballet company
Etymology
Origin of ballerina
1785–95; < Italian, feminine of ballerino professional dancer, probably equivalent to baller ( ia ) dance ( ball ( are ) to dance (< Late Latin; see ball 2) + -eria < Old French; see -ery) + -ino -ine 1
Explanation
A girl or woman who dances professionally with a ballet is a ballerina. The lead dancer in "The Nutcracker" is a ballerina. It's more common to call a female dancer a "ballet dancer" than a ballerina these days. Historically, the term ballerina was saved for the very best female solo dancers in a ballet company, similar to the word diva in opera. In French, you call a female dancer a danseuse, and while the word ballerina means "dancing girl" in Italian, it's more accepted to use the word danzatrice in Italy.
Vocabulary lists containing ballerina
List 4
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Twirling in Tutus: Ballet Vocabulary
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for April 20–April 26, 2024
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The nutritional deprivation she suffered caused her to lose the muscle tone she needed to pursue her dream of becoming a ballerina.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
She appeared as the Mona Lisa and an Edwards Degas ballerina.
From BBC • May 6, 2026
The story is completely absurd, filled with plot holes and characters as thin as a prima ballerina.
From Salon • Mar. 29, 2026
A native of Brazil, she was a professional ballerina in Austria for nine months before moving to America to attend MIT, where she met her co-founder, Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour.
From Barron's • Mar. 13, 2026
I no longer had the picture of the ballerina, which had been such an important part of my life in Africa.
From "Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina" by Michaela DePrince
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
