ballad

[bal-uh d]

See more synonyms for ballad on Thesaurus.com

noun

any light, simple song, especially one of sentimental or romantic character, having two or more stanzas all sung to the same melody.
a simple narrative poem of folk origin, composed in short stanzas and adapted for singing.
any poem written in similar style.

the music for a ballad.
a sentimental or romantic popular song.

Origin of ballad

1350–1400; Middle English balade < Middle French < Old Provençal balada dance, dancing-song, equivalent to bal(ar) to dance (< Late Latin ballāre; see ball²) + -ada -ade¹

Related formsbal·lad·ic

[buh-lad-ik] /bəˈlæd ɪk/, adjectivebal·lad·like, adjective

Can be confusedballad ballet ballot

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for ballad

chant, ditty, serenade, carol

Examples from the Web for ballad

Contemporary Examples of ballad

And it was a radical part of your tool set, throwing it into a ballad, which was also a canonized jazz standard.
Herbie Hancock Holds Forth
David Yaffe
November 8, 2014
There were no longer any chord changes, and it was no longer a ballad.
Herbie Hancock Holds Forth
David Yaffe
November 8, 2014
Toward the end, on the ballad “Someone Else,” she flies over the crowd while straddling a giant hot dog like Slim Pickens.
Miley Cyrus’s NBC Twerk-A-Thon: Tongues, Leotards, and Dwarfs, Oh My!
Marlow Stern
July 7, 2014
So begins “Song For Zula,” a beauteous six-minute ballad courtesy of Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Matthew Houck and co.
The 13 Best Songs of 2013: Lorde, Kanye West, Beyoncé, and More
Marlow Stern
December 28, 2013
As soon as she sits down, as if on cue, the Lana Del Rey ballad “Video Games” comes on.
Gina Gershon on Being Donatella Versace, ‘Showgirls,’ and Bill Clinton Rumors
Marlow Stern
October 4, 2013

Historical Examples of ballad

It was the ballad she had sung at Christmas—in what different mood!
The Bacillus of Beauty
Harriet Stark
The hint of this ballad is found in Arndt's Murchen, Berlin, 1816.
The Works of Whittier, Volume I (of VII)
John Greenleaf Whittier
This ballad was written on the occasion of a Horticultural Festival.
The Works of Whittier, Volume I (of VII)
John Greenleaf Whittier
Apropos, how do you like this thought in a ballad I have just now on the tapis?
The Letters of Robert Burns
Robert Burns
On the present occasion, I was prepared with a ballad of his.
Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood
George MacDonald

British Dictionary definitions for ballad

ballad

noun

a narrative song with a recurrent refrain
a narrative poem in short stanzas of popular origin, originally sung to a repeated tune
a slow sentimental song, esp a pop song

Word Origin for ballad

C15: from Old French balade, from Old Provençal balada song accompanying a dance, from balar to dance, from Late Latin ballāre; see ball ²

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

Word Origin and History for ballad

late 15c., from French ballade "dancing song" (13c.), from Old Provençal ballada "(poem for a) dance," from balar "to dance," from Late Latin ballare "to dance" (see ball (n.2)).

ballad in Culture

ballad

A simple narrative song, or a narrative poem suitable for singing. The ballad usually has a short stanza, such as:

There are twelve months in all the year,
As I hear many men say,
But the merriest month in all the year
Is the merry month of May.

ballad

A simple narrative song, or, alternatively, a narrative poem suitable for singing. (See under “Conventions of Written English.”)