Art & MusicGreek → English
Ballad
/ˈbæləd/noun
A narrative song in short stanzas, or in modern usage a slow romantic number.
The Greek roots
βαλλίζειν
ballízein
to dance, jump about
Literally: “dancing song”
Follow a root:βαλλίζειν3 words
The story of the word
A ballad was originally something you danced to, not something you swayed to at a school disco. Provençal balada came from Late Latin ballare, which most etymologists trace to Greek βαλλίζειν, though the Latin verb's ancestry is disputed. Ball, ballet and ballerina all descend from the same dancing verb.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Late Latin → Old Provençal → Old French → English
- First recorded
- 15th century
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
ballballetballerina
In a sentence
The band closed with a ballad and half the room started singing along.