BALLET

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ballet mean? 

• BALLET (noun)
  The noun BALLET has 2 senses:

1. a theatrical representation of a story that is performed to music by trained dancers

2. music written for a ballet

  Familiarity information: BALLET used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BALLET (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A theatrical representation of a story that is performed to music by trained dancers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

ballet; concert dance

Hypernyms ("ballet" is a kind of...):

choreography; stage dancing (a show involving artistic dancing)

Meronyms (parts of "ballet"):

duet; pas de deux ((ballet) a dance for two people (usually a ballerina and a danseur noble))

pas de trois ((ballet) a dance for three people)

pas de quatre ((ballet) a dance for four people)

act (a subdivision of a play or opera or ballet)

Domain member category:

pas ((ballet) a step in dancing (especially in classical ballet))

pirouette ((ballet) a rapid spin of the body (especially on the toes as in ballet))

pas seul; variation ((ballet) a solo dance or dance figure)

chasse; sashay ((ballet) quick gliding steps with one foot always leading)

glissade ((ballet) a gliding or sliding step in ballet)

turnout ((ballet) the outward rotation of a dancer's leg from the hip)

elevation ((ballet) the height of a dancer's leap or jump)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ballet"):

classical ballet (a style of ballet based on precise conventional steps performed with graceful and flowing movements)

modern ballet (a style of ballet that admits a wider variety of movements)

comedy ballet (a ballet that stresses the drama with features of comedy)

Derivation:

balletic (characteristic of or resembling or suitable for ballet)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Music written for a ballet

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("ballet" is a kind of...):

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

Derivation:

balletic (characteristic of or resembling or suitable for ballet)

 Context examples 

Like cosmic ballet dancers, the stars of the Pleiades cluster are spinning.

(Kepler Watches Stellar Dancers in the Pleiades Cluster, NASA)

From ballet and Zumba to Jazzercise, salsa, techno, swing, ballroom, and hip-hop, there are plenty of ways to have fun as you get fit.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

They had all full white sleeves of some kind or other, and most of them had big belts with a lot of strips of something fluttering from them like the dresses in a ballet, but of course there were petticoats under them.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)