barcarole

or bar·ca·rolle

[ bahr-kuh-rohl ]

noun

a boating song of the Venetian gondoliers.
a piece of music composed in the style of such songs.

Origin of barcarole

1605–15; <Venetian barcarola boatman's song, feminine of barcarolo, equivalent to barcar- (<Late Latin barcārius boatman; see bark³, -ary) + -olo (≪ Latin -eolus)

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

How to use barcarole in a sentence

Barcaroles, serenades, love-songs, and invitations to the water were interwoven for relief.
New Italian sketches | John Addington Symonds
He heard them as a boy in Ringabella, Crosshaven, Ringabella, singing their barcaroles.
Ulysses | James Joyce
Her dear friends the Barcaroles will be inconsolable; her sister Theodosia will break her heart.
The Cockaynes in Paris | Blanchard Jerrold
The barcaroles and serenades peculiar to Venice were, of course, in harmony with the occasion.
New Italian sketches | John Addington Symonds
He played not one but many barcaroles, and seemed loath to leave the instrument.
The Lady of the Aroostook | William Dean Howells

British Dictionary definitions for barcarole

barcarole

barcarolle

/ (ˈbɑːkəˌrəʊl, -ˌrɒl, ˌbɑːkəˈrəʊl) /

noun

a Venetian boat song in a time of six or twelve quaver beats to the bar
an instrumental composition resembling this

Origin of barcarole

C18: from French, from Italian barcarola, from barcaruolo boatman, from barca boat; see barque

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

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