Ballet

How to spell ballet

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce ballet

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does ballet mean?

1. nounA formal style of theatrical dance using precise, graceful movements, or a performance in that style.

Ballet in a sentence

• She trained in ballet for twelve years before joining the company.

• The theatre is staging a new ballet set to a famous orchestral score.

Where does ballet come from?

Language of origin: French

Ballet entered English in the 1660s from French ballet, which the French had themselves taken from the Italian balletto, a diminutive meaning 'a little dance'. That Italian word was built on ballo, 'a dance', from the Late Latin verb ballare, 'to dance', which in turn traces back to the Greek ballizein, 'to dance or jump about'. The art form was refined at the French royal court, so the French spelling, complete with its silent final -t, came into English unchanged. That borrowed French ending is exactly the spelling trap: the word sounds as if it should end in -ay, but it keeps the mute -et of its French origin. The same Latin ballare also gave us 'ball' in the sense of a formal dance and the related word 'ballroom'.

How the word is built

• ballet (from Italian balletto, a little dance; ball- 'dance'
• -et diminutive ending)