ballad
/ˈbæləd/
ballad noun: a kind of narrative poem, adapted for recitation or singing; especially, a sentimental or romantic poem in short stanzas.
Noun
ballad (plural ballads)
- A kind of narrative poem, adapted for recitation or singing; especially, a sentimental or romantic poem in short stanzas.
- The poet composed a ballad praising the heroic exploits of the fallen commander.
- Of all varieties of poetry, the Ballad, in the form which it affects among us, in distinction to other countries, is, perhaps, one of the most attractive.1882, John Ashton, “Origin of Ballads”, in John Skelton, A Ballade of the Scottysshe Kynge. […], London: Elliot Stock, […], →OCLC, page 1
- A slow romantic song.
- On Friday nights, the roller rink had a time-block called "Lovers' Lap" when they played nothing but ballads on the overhead speakers.
- He was playing the guitar and singing a ballad to his girlfriend while she was playing the drums.
Verb
ballad (third-person singular simple present ballads, present participle ballading, simple past and past participle balladed)
- To make mention of in ballads.
- To compose or sing ballads.
ballad meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and Telugu
ballad in Hindi
- narrative poem
- गाथागीत gāthāgīt
ballad in Tamil
- நாட்டுக் கதைப்பாடல், நாட்டுப் பாடல்கள், நாட்டுப்பாடல், கதைப்பாடல், மக்கள் பாட்டு, நடனப்பாட்டு
ballad in Bengali
- গাথা, লোকগীতি, বর্ণনামূলক কবিতা, গান
ballad in Telugu
- బల్లాడ్, బ్యాలెడింగ్, బ్యాలేడింగ్
More languagesFewer languages
- ballad in Malayalam
- നാടോടിപ്പാട്ട്
- ballad in Kannada
- ವೀರಗಾಥೆ, ವೀರಕಥೆ, ಲಾವಣಿ, ಕಥೆ ಹೇಳುವ ಸರಳವಾದ ಹಾಡು
- ballad in Odia
- ବ୍ଯ଼ାଲାଡ୍, ବ୍ଯ଼ାଲାଡ, ବଲ୍ଲାଡ୍
- ballad in Nepali
- बल्लाड, ब्यालेडिङ
- ballad in Tagalog
- tulamat
- ballad in Arabic
- بَالَاد bālād
- ballad in Malay
- balada
- ballad in Indonesian
- balada
- ballad in Persian
- چکامه čakâme, تصنیف tasnif
- ballad in Thai
- บัลลาด ban-làat, ลำนำนิทาน lam-nam-ní-taan
- ballad in Vietnamese
- dân ca
Examples of ballad in a sentence
- The musical ambassadors finished their performance, and the local musicians in turn played for them a traditional ballad.
- "Neon Gravestones" is a forlorn, slow-burning hip hop piano ballad.
- In “Beach Baby,” a countryish waltz, and “Babys,” a ballad with an itchy piano underlay, Mr.
Forms of ballad
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | ballads |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | ballads |
| present participle | ballading |
| past participle | balladed |
| past | balladed |
Origin of ballad
From French ballade, from Old Occitan ballada (“poem for a dance”), from Late Latin ballare. Doublet of balada and ballade.
Words formed from ballad
Phrases with ballad
Questions about ballad
- What does ballad mean?
- Ballad means a kind of narrative poem, adapted for recitation or singing; especially, a sentimental or romantic poem in short stanzas.
- What is ballad in Hindi?
- Ballad in Hindi is गाथागीत (gāthāgīt). See Ballad meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is ballad?
- Ballad can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce ballad?
- Ballad is pronounced /ˈbæləd/.
- What is the plural of ballad?
- The plural of ballad is ballads.
Words near ballad in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ballad (page history and authors); ballad (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ballad (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ballad (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ballad (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ballad (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ballad (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ballad (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-ballad.ogg.
Cite this entry: “ballad.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ballad. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.