# ballet
## English
### Etymology

Borrowed from French ballet, from Italian balletto (“short dance, ballet”), diminutive form of ballo (“group dance”), from Late Latin ballō (“to dance”).

### Pronunciation

* (General American) enPR: bă-lāʹ, băʹlā('), IPA: /bælˈeɪ/, /ˈbæl(ˌ)eɪ/
** Audio (US):(file)
* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈbal.eɪ/, /ˈbal.ɪ/
* (General Australian) IPA: /bælˈæɪ/
* (New Zealand) IPA: /bɛlˈæɪ/
* (Scotland) IPA: /bɐleː/, /bɐlɪː/
* Rhymes: -æleɪ, -æli, -eɪ
* Hyphenation: bal‧let

### Noun

ballet (countable and uncountable, plural ballets)
* (dance) A classical form of dance.
    a classically-trained ballet dancer
* A theatrical presentation of such dancing, usually with music, sometimes in the form of a story.
    Let's go to the ballet in the theatre tomorrow!
* The company of persons who perform this dance.
    Zara joined the ballet at the age of 14.
* (music) A light part song, frequently with a fa-la-la chorus, common among Elizabethan and Italian Renaissance composers.
* (heraldry, uncommon) A (small) ball i.e. roundel on a coat of arms, called a bezant, plate, etc., according to colour.
** 1741, Richard Izacke, Remarkable Antiquities of the City of Exeter [...] by Richard Izacke [...] Second Edition:9. Peter West, Ar. bears sable Ballets argent a Lyon Rampant.
* (figurative) Any intricate series of operations involving coordination between individuals.
** 1990, Historic Preservation: Quarterly of the National Council for Historic Sites and Buildings, volumes 42-43:Food preparation on a potager no doubt became a kitchen ballet in which pans were constantly shifted, coals constantly replenished, and grates shaken out.
** 1991, Stephen King, Needful Things:Henry Payton joined Alan on the sidelines during the conclusion of the oddly delicate ballet known as On-Scene Investigation.

#### Derived terms

* antiballet
* ballet boot
* balletcore
* ballet dad
* ballet dancer
* ballet flat
* ballet flats
* balletgoer
* balletgoing
* balletic
* balletlike
* ballet master
* balletmaster
* ballet mistress
* ballet mom
* ballet mum
* ballet music
* balletomane
* balletomania
* ballet on horseback
* ballet shoe
* ballet slipper
* ballet troupe
* balletwear
* fairy ballet
* nonballet
* preballet
* ski ballet
* water ballet

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Verb

ballet (third-person singular simple present ballets, present participle balleting, simple past and past participle balleted)
* (transitive, intransitive) To perform an action reminiscent of ballet dancing.
** 2014 Rutherford's Vascular Surgery E-Book - Page 1340
    Situations that typically require longer iliac limbs than the measurements suggest include extreme iliac tortuosity, “balleting” of the limbs (Endurant and Excluder) (Fig. 90-3), and the need to extend to the external iliac arteries. It these anatomic circumstances, it is prudent to choose a longer length when in doubt.
** 2016, Jacob Russell Dring, Endless the Chase:Unfortunately, he could only sustain so much abuse. Footfalls approached. Kanoa's lips smacked and his jaw hung open. His eyelids fluttered, their underlying gaze balleting without clarity. He felt beyond sick, and his world spun immensely. A garbled voice of incoherency seemed to be his only link to this realm of consciousness.
** 2017, Num Nums, “A Total Bust a Move”, in The ZhuZhus:Frankie's obviously going to ballet her way to the trophy.

#### Translations
### See also

* mime
* modern dance

### Anagrams

* betall

## Catalan
### Noun

ballet m (plural ballets)
* ballet

### Further reading

* “ballet” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “ballet”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “ballet” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “ballet” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Chavacano
### Etymology

Borrowed from English ballet, from French ballet, from Italian balletto (“short dance, ballet”), diminutive form of ballo (“ball”).

### Noun

ballet
* ballet (dance tradition and style)

## Cimbrian
### Verb

ballet
* inflection of ballan:
** third-person singular present indicative
** second-person plural present indicative
** second-person plural present subjunctive
** second-person plural imperative

## Danish
### Etymology

Either from French ballet or directly from Italian balletto, the diminutive form of ballo (“dance, ball”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /balɛt/, [b̥aˈlɛd̥]

### Noun

ballet c (singular definite balletten, plural indefinite balletter)
* ballet

#### Descendants

* → Greenlandic: balletti

### Further reading

* “ballet” in Den Danske Ordbog

## Dutch
### Etymology

Borrowed from French ballet, from Middle French ballet, from Italian balletto. An instance of spelling pronunciation.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /bɑˈlɛt/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: bal‧let
* Rhymes: -ɛt

### Noun

ballet n (plural balletten, diminutive balletje n)
* ballet

#### Derived terms

* balletdanser
* balletdanseres
* balletles
* balletschoen
* balletzaal
* waterballet

#### Related terms

* bal
* ballerina
* ballerino

#### Descendants

* → Indonesian: balèt
* → Papiamentu: balèt

## French
### Etymology

Borrowed from Italian balletto.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ba.lɛ/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

ballet m (plural ballets)
* ballet

#### Derived terms

* ballet à ski
* ballet-féerie
* corps de ballet
* maître de ballet

#### Descendants

* → Dutch: ballet
** → Indonesian: balèt
** → Papiamentu: balèt
* → English: ballet
* → Persian: باله (bâle)
* → Portuguese: balé, balê, ballet (unadapted form)
* → Swedish: balett
* → Thai: บัลเลต์ (ban-lêe)
* → Turkish: bale
* → Vietnamese: ba lê

### Further reading

* “ballet”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## German
### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Verb

ballet
* second-person plural subjunctive I of ballen

## Latin
### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈbal.let/, [ˈbälːʲɛt̪]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈbal.let/, [ˈbälːet̪]

### Verb

ballet
* third-person singular present active subjunctive of ballō (“to dance”)

## Northern Sami
### Pronunciation

* (Kautokeino) IPA: /ˈpalleh(t)/

### Verb

ballet
* inflection of ballat:
** third-person plural present indicative
** second-person singular past indicative
** second-person plural imperative

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Noun

ballet n
* definite singular of ball (Etymology 2)

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Noun

ballet n
* definite singular of ball (Etymology 2)

## Spanish
### Alternative forms

* balé (rare)

### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French ballet.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /baˈle/ [baˈle]
** Rhymes: -e
* IPA: /baˈlet/ [baˈlet̪]
** Rhymes: -et

### Noun

ballet m (countable and uncountable, plural ballets)
* ballet

#### Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

#### Derived terms

* cuerpo de ballet

### Further reading

* “ballet”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10