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

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

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

Suwa nevertheless instilled in the fledgling ballerina a discipline and rigor that would carry Morishita through her career.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

Morishita, who will turn 78 in December, is the prima ballerina in Japan’s storied Matsuyama Ballet Company.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

Monson de Kansky trained with the former Bolshoi Ballet prima ballerina for three years, until her father inquired about her future.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

Monson de Kansky never became a world-famous ballerina.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

“Mama, I’m learning too much tap. I’m afraid I’ll never learn to be a ballerina here,” I whispered into my mother’s ear one afternoon after class.

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

That meant that his first prominent patients weren’t point guards or centers but New York’s premier ballerinas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026

When their bus breaks down on the way to a showcase, a troupe of ballerinas led by “Dance Moms” alum and one-time Sia protégée Maddie Ziegler becomes stranded in a remote hotel-bar-dungeon-arms factory outside Budapest.

From Salon ● Mar. 29, 2026

But Giorgos Mavrogordatos, emeritus professor at the University of Athens criticised the evzone display as "extravagant figures resembling ballerinas for the pleasure of tourists".

From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2025

Whether actual star ballerinas are this serious and demanding and socially brutal, I don’t know, but this is a television show.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2025

“You chose it because you said ferns were the ballerinas of plants. Don’t you remember how much you loved your old dance classes? You know, I used to love dancing, too.”

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy