Standard Lemma guide

breakdancing

noun · 1 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

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1

noun

Meaning 1

An urban style of acrobatic street dance that originated in the hip hop culture of New York City in the late 20th century.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: dance, dancing, hobbies, lifestyle, sports

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From break + dancing. Influenced by breakdown (the percussion break of songs chosen by a DJ for use in hip-hop music) -- breakdancers were originally those who danced to a breakdown.

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 霹靂舞 /霹雳舞 (pīlìwǔ) — Style of dance
  • Esperanto: rompdancado — Style of dance
  • Finnish: breikkitanssi — Style of dance
  • French: breakdance — Style of dance
  • Georgian: ბრეიკდანსი (breiḳdansi) — Style of dance
  • Georgian: ბრეიკ-დანსი (breiḳ-dansi) — Style of dance
  • Hungarian: breaktánc — Style of dance
  • Macedonian: бре́јкденс (bréjkdens) — Style of dance
  • Māori: kanikani keretao — Style of dance
  • Polish: breakdance — Style of dance
  • Portuguese: breakdance — Style of dance
  • Russian: брейк-да́нс (brejk-dáns) — Style of dance
  • Russian: брейк (brejk) — Style of dance
  • Swedish: breakdance — Style of dance
  • Swedish: breakdans — Style of dance