ballerina

[bal-uh-ree-nuh]

noun

1. a principal female dancer in a ballet company.

2. any female ballet dancer.

3. a woman's very low-heeled or heelless shoe or slipper, made to resemble a ballet slipper.

ballerina

/ ˌbæləˈriːnə /

noun

1. a female ballet dancer

2. the principal female dancer of a ballet company

ballerina

1. In ballet, a female dancer. (See prima ballerina.)

Word History and Origins

Origin of ballerina¹

1785–95; < Italian, feminine of ballerino professional dancer, probably equivalent to baller ( ia ) dance ( ball ( are ) to dance (< Late Latin; ball ² ) + -eria < Old French; -ery ) + -ino -ine ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of ballerina¹

C18: from Italian, feminine of ballerino dancing master, from ballare to dance, from Late Latin ballāre : see _ball ²

Example Sentences

It also discovered 300 new locations across the country for pink waxcap, also known as the ballerina waxcap as its cap flares out like a pirouetting dancer.

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"My daughter's 20, she lives in Germany - she's a ballerina," says the Wiltshire-born singer.

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His movies are almost always about characters at risk of squandering their potential, be they ballerinas, wrestlers, mathematicians or baseball players.

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I grew up performing as a ballerina and then dancing for my sister, and I’ve missed it.

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But there are also storytellers, makeup artists, theater majors and ballerinas — Americans who probably never thought their skills would match the needs of a spy agency.

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