serenade

[ ser-uh-neyd ]
See synonyms for: serenadeserenadedserenadingserenader on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a complimentary performance of vocal or instrumental music in the open air at night, as by a lover under the window of his lady.

  2. a piece of music suitable for such performance.

verb (used with or without object),ser·e·nad·ed, ser·e·nad·ing.
  1. to entertain with or perform a serenade.

Origin of serenade

1
1640–50; <French sérénade<Italian serenata;see serenata

Other words from serenade

  • ser·e·nad·er, noun
  • un·ser·e·nad·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use serenade in a sentence

  • If you were an Ethiopian serenader, you would be a loss to me.

    The Heir of Redclyffe | Charlotte M. Yonge
  • It was now acting and re-acting on the lining of the serenader's olfactory organ in a manner to threaten final decapitation.

    Flamsted quarries | Mary E. Waller
  • Then the music ceased, and the tinkling of coins on a plate proclaimed the status of our serenader.

  • The selection of the unknown serenader was that pretty little thing which describes the end of a perfect day.

    Fore! | Charles Emmett Van Loan
  • He attends to his work with all his might, and strikes up a noisy song, to the infinite displeasure of the serenader.

British Dictionary definitions for serenade

serenade

/ (ˌsɛrɪˈneɪd) /


noun
  1. a piece of music appropriate to the evening, characteristically played outside the house of a woman

  2. a piece of music indicative or suggestive of this

  1. an extended composition in several movements similar to the modern suite or divertimento

verb
  1. (tr) to play a serenade for (someone)

  2. (intr) to play a serenade

Origin of serenade

1
C17: from French sérénade, from Italian serenata, from sereno peaceful, from Latin serēnus calm; also influenced in meaning by Italian sera evening, from Latin sērus late

Derived forms of serenade

  • serenader, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012