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

He had an 80-yard touchdown last weekend, and the way he stayed in bounds along the sideline, it looked like he was a ballerina.

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Along her way, the ballerina’s mate supports her in some dynamic and contrasting displays of delicately dramatic force.

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The writer Jia Tolentino characterized it as “what a ballerina might do if you concussed her and then made her snort caffeine pills.”

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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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