aubade

[ oh-bad, oh-bahd; French oh-bad ]

See synonyms for aubade on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural au·bades

[oh-badz, oh-bahdz; French oh-bad]. /oʊˈbædz, oʊˈbɑdz; French oʊˈbad/. Music.

a piece sung or played outdoors at dawn, usually as a compliment to someone.

Origin of aubade

1670–80; <French, Middle French, equivalent to aube (<Provençal alba song about the parting of two lovers at dawn <Vulgar Latin, noun use of feminine of Latin albus white, clear) + -ade-ade¹

Words Nearby aubade

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use aubade in a sentence

After all, that “aubade Provenale” was just the melodious story of the woods in spring.
The Branding Iron | Katharine Newlin Burt
He remembered that Alain was supposed to sing an aubade, a dawn song, in the street below to warn and rouse him.
The Saracen: Land of the Infidel | Robert Shea
Sweet as any aubade of the olden time, under olive and ilex, is it not?
A Speckled Bird | Augusta J. Evans Wilson

British Dictionary definitions for aubade

aubade

/ (French obad) /

noun

a song or poem appropriate to or greeting the dawn
a romantic or idyllic prelude or overture

Origin of aubade

C19: from French, from Old Provençal aubada (unattested), from auba dawn, ultimately from Latin albus white

Compare serenade

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

Browse