balletto

Forms

balletto m (plural balletti)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Italian ballo (“dance”) + -etto, a diminutive of the noun.^[2][3][4][1] The noun is in turn derived from ballare (“to dance”), which continues Late Latin ballāre, from Ancient Greek βάλλω (bállō, “to throw”).^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini dates the word to 1465.^[2] DELI's first records are in Agnolo Firenzuola (before 1543), where it is both a small dance and a piece of dance music; the GDLI quotes his balletti danced by young men and girls beside the livelier balli gagliardi.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the word named a short dance, done for fun, and a piece of instrumental music in dance rhythm.^[5][8][9] In 1585 Bastiano de' Rossi writes that balletto now means a small pantomime with music and dance, the stage sense that became the main one.^[5][8] In the 17th century the musical balletto was a dance in the style of the allemande, paired with a galliard or courante.^[9]

At the end of the 16th century the word was borrowed as French ballet (1578), and French passed it on to English in the 1660s.^[4][7][10] German Ballett is recorded from 1601.^[7] In Italian the sense “dance company” is dated 1935 (Tombari).^[5][7] In the press of the 1960s balletti rosa and balletti verdi were euphemisms for orgies with very young girls or boys.^[5][11] The latest figurative sense, a frantic back-and-forth of contradictory news, is quoted from the Corriere della Sera in 1996.^[6][3]

Timeline

• 1465 – Nocentini's date for balletto.^[2]
• Before 1543 – Agnolo Firenzuola uses it for a small dance and for dance music.^[5][7]
• 1578 – French ballet is first recorded.^[7]
• 1585 – Bastiano de' Rossi describes the balletto as a small pantomime with music and dance.^[5]
• 1601 – German Ballett is first recorded.^[7]
• 1660s – English takes ballet from French.^[10]
• 1935 – Francesco Tombari uses it for a company of dancers.^[5][7]
• 1963 – Balletti rosa and balletti verdi are recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. ballet: a stage show of dance and mime set to music, with planned steps and figures: il balletto classico.^[3][11][12]
2. The music written for such a show.^[3][11]
3. A corps de ballet, a company of dancers.^[3][11][12]
4. A short dance done for fun, also in the phrase in un balletto (colloquial): in no time at all.^[9][11]
5. (figurative) A frantic and contradictory succession of announcements or moves: il balletto delle nomine.^[3][11][12]
6. (sports) In freestyle skiing, the event in which the skier performs a series of figures.^[3]

Word family

• ballettomane
• ballettomania
• ballettistico

Related words

• ballo
• ballare
• ballerino
• French ballet

Usage notes

The TLIO and DELI record a different balletto, “small bale”, from balla, in a commercial document of 1395 (baleto).^[13][5] Balletti rosa and balletti verdi are journalistic euphemisms.^[11][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
8. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it