Art & MusicGreek → English
Ballerina
/ˌbæləˈriːnə/noun
A woman who dances in a ballet company, especially in principal roles.
The Greek roots
βαλλίζειν
ballízein
to dance, to jump about
Literally: “female dancer”
Follow a root:βαλλίζειν3 words
The story of the word
Italian ballerina is the feminine of ballerino, dancer, from ballare, which most etymologists trace back to Greek βαλλίζειν, to dance or jump about, though the link is disputed. English borrowed it in the 1790s, when Italian dancers dominated the European stage. Prima ballerina assoluta, still the highest rank anyone can hold, is Italian grammar sitting on top of a Greek verb.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Late Latin → Italian → English
- First recorded
- 1790s
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
balletballballad
In a sentence
The ballerina taped her toes in silence for twenty minutes before every performance.