BALLAD Definition & Meaning

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ballad

[ bal-uhd ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

any light, simple song, especially one of sentimental or romantic character, having two or more stanzas all sung to the same melody.
a simple narrative poem of folk origin, composed in short stanzas and adapted for singing.
any poem written in similar style.
the music for a ballad.
a sentimental or romantic popular song.

ballad

/ ˈ��æ��ə�� /

noun

a narrative song with a recurrent refrain
a narrative poem in short stanzas of popular origin, originally sung to a repeated tune
a slow sentimental song, esp a pop song

ballad

A simple narrative song, or, alternatively, a narrative poem suitable for singing. ( See under “Conventions of Written English.” )

ballad

A simple narrative song, or a narrative poem suitable for singing. The ballad usually has a short stanza , such as:
There are twelve months in all the year,
As I hear many men say,
But the merriest month in all the year
Is the merry month of May.

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Other �y��vlog Forms

��·��·�� [b, uh, -, lad, -ik], adjective
��l��·�� adjective

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of ballad¹

1350–1400; Middle English balade < Middle French < Old Provençal balada dance, dancing-song, equivalent to bal ( ar ) to dance (< Late Latin ��; ball ² ) + -ada -ade ¹

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of ballad¹

C15: from Old French balade , from Old Provençal balada song accompanying a dance, from balar to dance, from Late Latin �� ; see ball ²

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Mexican authorities have been trying to discourage positive depictions of drug traffickers, whose exploits are often lionized by bands reciting popular corridos, or ballads, exalting the criminal life.

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In an early scene, Garrett drives around sobbing to the Skid Row ballad “I Remember You” and you wonder if Hess himself is deluded about what sounds cool to today’s fifth-graders.

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Comic pastiche gives way to tender romantic ballads only to explode in musical psychodrama.

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Originally, he thought he struck the right ending with the bittersweet ballad “Something, Somehow, Someday,” on the record’s standard release.

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The LP is also home to perhaps the most sumptuous of EWF’s many romantic ballads: “Reasons,” with Bailey floating around in his falsetto like a guy sky-high on desire.

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