noun · verb · 9 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.
General-American:bă-lāʹ
General-American:băʹlā'
General-American:/bælˈeɪ/
General-American:/ˈbæl(ˌ)eɪ/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈbal.eɪ/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈbal.ɪ/
Australian:/bælˈæɪ/
New-Zealand:/bɛlˈæɪ/
Scotland:/bɐleː/
Scotland:/bɐlɪː/
rhymes with -æleɪ
rhymes with -æli
rhymes with -eɪ
CMU ARPABET:B AE0 L EY1
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A classical form of dance.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
Any intricate series of operations involving coordination between individuals.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, figuratively, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
verb
Meaning 7
To perform an action reminiscent of ballet dancing.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
noun
Meaning 8
a theatrical representation of a story that is performed to music by trained dancers
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: concert dance
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: stage dancing, choreography
Narrower terms: classical ballet, modern ballet, comedy ballet
9
noun
Meaning 9
music written for a ballet
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: music
History
Etymology
Borrowed from French ballet, from Italian balletto (“short dance, ballet”), diminutive form of ballo (“group dance”) (cognate with Old French bal, whence English ball), from Late Latin ballō (“to dance”). By surface analysis, ball + -et.
Across languages
Translations
102 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
balet
— form of dance
Arabic:
بَالِيه
(bālēh)
— form of dance
Armenian:
բալետ
(balet)
— form of dance
Azerbaijani:
balet
— form of dance
Belarusian:
бале́т
(baljét)
— form of dance
Bengali:
ব্যালে
(bêle)
— form of dance
Bulgarian:
бале́т
(balét)
— form of dance
Burmese:
ဘဲလေး
(bhai:le:)
— form of dance
Catalan:
ballet
— form of dance
Chinese Mandarin:
芭蕾舞
(bālěiwǔ)
— form of dance
Chinese Mandarin:
舞劇 /舞剧
(wǔjù)
— form of dance
Crimean Tatar:
balet
— form of dance
Czech:
balet
— form of dance
Danish:
ballet
— form of dance
Dutch:
ballet
— form of dance
Esperanto:
baleto
— form of dance
Esperanto:
baletoj
— form of dance
Estonian:
ballett
— form of dance
Finnish:
baletti
— form of dance
French:
ballet
— form of dance
Georgian:
ბალეტი
(baleṭi)
— form of dance
German:
Ballett
— form of dance
Greek:
μπαλλέτο
(balléto)
— form of dance
Greenlandic:
balletti
— form of dance
Hebrew:
בָּלֵט
(balét)
— form of dance
Hindi:
बैले
(baile)
— form of dance
Hungarian:
balett
— form of dance
Icelandic:
ballett
— form of dance
Icelandic:
listdans
— form of dance
Icelandic:
leikdans
— form of dance
Ido:
baleto
— form of dance
Indonesian:
balet
— form of dance
Interlingua:
ballet
— form of dance
Irish:
bailé
— form of dance
Italian:
balletto
— form of dance
Japanese:
バレエ
(barē)
— form of dance
Kalmyk:
балет
(balet)
— form of dance
Kazakh:
балет
(balet)
— form of dance
Korean:
발레
(balle)
— form of dance
Kyrgyz:
балет
(balet)
— form of dance
Lao:
ບາເລ
(bā lē)
— form of dance
Latvian:
balets
— form of dance
Lithuanian:
baletas
— form of dance
Macedonian:
бале́т
(balét)
— form of dance
Malay:
balet
— form of dance
Māori:
kanikani hītekiteki
— form of dance
Māori:
ori hīteki
— form of dance
Mongolian:
балет
(balet)
— form of dance
Norwegian Bokmål:
ballett
— form of dance
Norwegian Nynorsk:
ballett
— form of dance
Iranian Persian:
بالِه
(bâle)
— form of dance
Iranian Persian:
رَقْصِ بالِه
(raġs-e bâle)
— form of dance
