Standard Lemma guide

balalaika

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /bæləˈlaɪkə/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -aɪkə

1

noun

Meaning 1

A plucked stringed instrument with a triangular body, short neck and three strings, of Russian origin.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a stringed instrument that has a triangular body and three strings

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: chordophone

History

Etymology

From Russian балала́йка (balalájka).

Across languages

Translations

66 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: balalaika — Russian instrument
  • Arabic: بَالَالَايْكَا (bālālāykā) — Russian instrument
  • Armenian: բալալայկա (balalayka) — Russian instrument
  • Azerbaijani: balalayka — Russian instrument
  • Azerbaijani: балалајка — Russian instrument
  • Belarusian: балала́йка (balalájka) — Russian instrument
  • Bulgarian: балала́йка (balalájka) — Russian instrument
  • Catalan: balalaica — Russian instrument
  • Chinese Mandarin: 巴拉萊卡 /巴拉莱卡 (bālāláikǎ) — Russian instrument
  • Chinese Mandarin: 巴拉萊卡琴 /巴拉莱卡琴 (bālāláikǎ-qín) — Russian instrument
  • Chinese Mandarin: 三角琴 (sānjiǎoqín) — Russian instrument
  • Czech: balalajka — Russian instrument
  • Danish: balalajka — Russian instrument
  • Dutch: balalaika — Russian instrument
  • Esperanto: balalajko — Russian instrument
  • Estonian: balalaika — Russian instrument
  • Finnish: balalaikka — Russian instrument
  • French: balalaïka — Russian instrument
  • Galician: balalaica — Russian instrument
  • Georgian: ბალალაიკა (balalaiḳa) — Russian instrument
  • German: Balalaika — Russian instrument
  • Greek: μπαλαλάικα (balaláika) — Russian instrument
  • Hebrew: בָּלָלַיְקָה (balalayka) — Russian instrument
  • Hindi: बालालय्का (bālālaykā) — Russian instrument
  • Hungarian: balalajka — Russian instrument
  • Indonesian: balalaika — Russian instrument
  • Ingrian: balalaikka — Russian instrument
  • Interlingua: balalaika — Russian instrument
  • Irish: balaláice — Russian instrument
  • Italian: balalaika — Russian instrument
  • Japanese: バラライカ (bararaika) — Russian instrument
  • Kalmyk: балалайк (balalayk) — Russian instrument
  • Kazakh: балалайка (balalaika) — Russian instrument
  • Korean: 발랄라이카 (ballallaika) — Russian instrument
  • Kyrgyz: балалайка (balalayka) — Russian instrument
  • Latvian: balalajka — Russian instrument
  • Lithuanian: balalajka — Russian instrument
  • Macedonian: балалајка (balalajka) — Russian instrument
  • Malay: balalaika — Russian instrument
  • Mongolian: балалайка (balalajka) — Russian instrument
  • Norwegian Bokmål: balalaika — Russian instrument
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: balalaika — Russian instrument
  • Persian: بالالایکا (bâlâlâykâ) — Russian instrument
  • Polish: bałałajka — Russian instrument
  • Polish: bałabajka — Russian instrument
  • Portuguese: balalaica — Russian instrument
  • Romanian: balalaică — Russian instrument
  • Russian: балала́йка (balalájka) — Russian instrument
  • Serbo-Croatian: балалајка — Russian instrument
  • Serbo-Croatian: balalajka — Russian instrument
  • Slovak: balalajka — Russian instrument
  • Slovene: balalajka — Russian instrument
  • Spanish: balalaica — Russian instrument
  • Swahili: balalaika — Russian instrument
  • Swedish: balalajka — Russian instrument
  • Tajik: балалайка (balalayka) — Russian instrument
  • Tatar: балалайка (balalayqa) — Russian instrument
  • Turkish: balalayka — Russian instrument
  • Turkmen: balalaýka — Russian instrument
  • Ukrainian: балала́йка (balalájka) — Russian instrument
  • Uzbek: balalayka — Russian instrument
  • Vietnamese: balalaica — Russian instrument
  • Vietnamese: balalaika — Russian instrument
  • Yakut: балалаайка (balalaayka) — Russian instrument
  • Yakut: балалайка (balalayka) — Russian instrument
  • Yiddish: באַלאַלײַקע (balalayke) — Russian instrument