Dancer

How to spell dancer

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce dancer

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does dancer mean?

1. nounA person who dances, especially one who performs or does so professionally.

Dancer in a sentence

• The lead dancer rehearsed the new routine for three hours.

• Every dancer in the troupe wore a matching costume.

Where does dancer come from?

Language of origin: French

This word is built on the verb 'dance', which English borrowed from the Old French 'dancer' (also spelled 'danser') during the 1300s, meaning to move the body rhythmically, usually to music. The French verb itself is of uncertain earlier origin, though many scholars trace it to a Frankish or Germanic source meaning to draw out or stretch, perhaps describing the lining up of dancers in a row. English simply added the native agent suffix '-er', which marks a person who performs an action, to produce 'dancer', literally 'one who dances'. The same '-er' ending sits on countless everyday words such as 'singer' and 'worker', which is why the spelling is regular and predictable. The only mild trap is the soft 'c', which sounds like 's' before the 'e', a pattern English inherited along with the French word itself.

How the word is built

• danc- (from dance, to move rhythmically)
• -er (agent suffix: one who does)