ballerina

American  

[bal-uh-ree-nuh] / ˌbæl əˈri nə /

noun

• ballerinas
  plural

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.

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ballerina British  

/ ˌbæləˈriːnə /

noun

1. a female ballet dancer

2. the principal female dancer of a ballet company

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ballerina Cultural  

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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ballerinas
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of ballerina

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

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Explanation

A girl or woman who dances professionally with a ballet is a ballerina. The lead dancer in "The Nutcracker" is a ballerina. It's more common to call a female dancer a "ballet dancer" than a ballerina these days. Historically, the term ballerina was saved for the very best female solo dancers in a ballet company, similar to the word diva in opera. In French, you call a female dancer a danseuse, and while the word ballerina means "dancing girl" in Italian, it's more accepted to use the word danzatrice in Italy.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ballerina ballerinas

Devon Teuscher essayed the leading ballerina role with equal parts calm and strength.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026

I have writer friends, painter friends, musician friends, dancer friends and ballerina friends.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026

A trained ballerina, Bardot helped popularise the Repetto brand after asking the company to make her a version for everyday use.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

The ballerina collaboration, Reichert said, would be part of the company’s efforts to hold consumers’ attention with new shoes and sandals in the years ahead.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

Friedrick reaches out and rights a tiny ballerina that has fallen sideways, returning her to balance on her ribboned slippers.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

“Many of them have been stretched into new silhouettes of the Samba, for example, into both ballerinas, into mules, into Mary Janes.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

Degas is said to have preferred watching ballerinas in the rehearsal studio as opposed to performing on stage, as he could then witness the “little events that occurred in the background.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

Arguably most prominent was her role as the central of five ballerinas in “Divertimento No. 15,” Balanchine’s Mozart-inspired confection from 1956, where she displayed gyroscopic turns and air-filled, feathery footwork.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026

Blessedly, these ballerinas didn’t learn their skills in prison or the foster system, and their tutus are not fodder for a satanic pyre.

From Salon ● Mar. 29, 2026

I suggested that she change her name to something more exotic, like Svetlana, Tatiana, or Natalia, names of Russia’s most famous ballerinas.

From "Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina" by Michaela DePrince

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