barcarole
Americannoun
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a boating song of the Venetian gondoliers.
-
a piece of music composed in the style of such songs.
noun
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a Venetian boat song in a time of six or twelve quaver beats to the bar
-
an instrumental composition resembling this
Etymology
Origin of barcarole
1605–15; < Venetian barcarola boatman's song, feminine of barcarolo, equivalent to barcar- (< Late Latin barcārius boatman; see bark 3, -ary) + -olo (≪ Latin -eolus )
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.
Long-held but shifting sonorities here suggest a barcarole as a voyage to the underworld.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 30, 2014
As the Sicilian men intone shocked syllables in a martial rhythm, a carefree barcarole suddenly emerges from a passing boat carrying ladies and gentlemen to the ball.
From New York Times ● Jul. 7, 2013
Madame Hvoslef, who is an accomplished performer, sat down to it, and gave us the barcarole from Massaniello.
From Northern Travel Summer and Winter Pictures of Sweden, Denmark and Lapland by Bayard Taylor
"Now, won't you play that pretty barcarole you played the other night at Lady Fenleigh's?" entreated Mrs. Erwin.
From The Lady of the Aroostook by William Dean Howells
She could warble the Venetian barcarole with all the soft accents of an Adriatic tongue, or sing the Bauerlied of the Tyrol with every cadence of the peasant's fancy.
From Davenport Dunn, Volume 1 (of 2) A Man Of Our Day by Charles James Lever
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.
