berceuse

American  

[ber-sœz] / bɛrˈsœz /

noun

Music.

• berceuses
  plural

1. a cradlesong; lullaby.

2. a composition for instrument or voice, having a soothing, reflective character.

---

berceuse British  

/ bɛrsøz /

noun

1. a cradlesong or lullaby

2. an instrumental piece suggestive of this, in six-eight time

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• berceuses
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of berceuse

1875–80; < French, equivalent to berc ( er ) to rock + -euse -euse

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

berceuse berceuses

Dear Magelone," he said, going to the piano,—the berceuse was just ended, and Otto was expressing his admiration for the music and for the performer,—"dear Magelone, will you preside at the coffee-table to-day?

From A Noble Name or D?nninghausen by Claire Von Gl?mer

Doubtless she knew it too, as she sat there sewing on the frail garment which lay across her knee and singing blithely under her breath some air with cadence like a berceuse.

From Athalie by Frank Craig

"Impossible!" her vanity made reply, and the berceuse which she was playing assumed the character of a triumphal march.

From A Noble Name or D?nninghausen by Claire Von Gl?mer

No berceuse by Gounod was ever more rest-compelling.

From Vixen, Volume I. by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon

I found him seated in a berceuse on the veranda.

From Two Years in the French West Indies by Lafcadio Hearn

Yet this, too, is somewhat in keeping with the tradition of the lullaby – the berceuses by established composers such as Liszt and Chopin were often written in a flat key.

From The Guardian ● May 20, 2010

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---