Library / English Dictionary

BALLAD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A narrative poem of popular origin

Synonyms:

ballad; lay

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

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

poem; verse form (a composition written in metrical feet forming rhythmical lines)

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

Edda (either of two distinct works in Old Icelandic dating from the late 13th century and consisting of 34 mythological and heroic ballads composed between 800 and 1200; the primary source for Scandinavian mythology)

Derivation:

balladeer (a singer of popular ballads)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A narrative song with a recurrent refrain

Synonyms:

ballad; lay

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

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

song; vocal (a short musical composition with words)

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

minstrelsy (ballads sung by minstrels)

Derivation:

balladeer (a singer of popular ballads)

Credits

 Context examples: 

After tea, we discussed a variety of topics before the fire; and Mrs. Micawber was good enough to sing us (in a small, thin, flat voice, which I remembered to have considered, when I first knew her, the very table-beer of acoustics) the favourite ballads of The Dashing White Sergeant, and Little Tafflin.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)