ballade

American  

[buh-lahd, ba-, ba-lad] / bəˈlɑd, bæ-, baˈlad /

noun

ballades plural

1. a poem consisting commonly of three stanzas having an identical rhyme scheme, followed by an envoy, and having the same last line for each of the stanzas and the envoy.

2. Music. a composition in free style and romantic mood, often for solo piano or for orchestra.

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ballade British  

/ bæˈlɑːd, balad /

noun

1. prosody a verse form consisting of three stanzas and an envoy, all ending with the same line. The first three stanzas commonly have eight or ten lines each and the same rhyme scheme

2. music an instrumental composition, esp for piano, based on or intended to evoke a narrative

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ballades
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ballade

1485–95; < Middle French, variant of balade ballad