noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Any poem or short written piece composed in the style of Theocritus's short pastoral poems, the Idylls.
2. 2
   a short poem descriptive of rural or pastoral life wordnet
3. 3
   An episode or series of events or circumstances of pastoral or rural simplicity, fit for an idyll; a carefree or lighthearted experience.
4. 4
   a musical composition that evokes rural life wordnet
5. 5
   A composition, usually instrumental, of a pastoral or sentimental character, e.g. Siegfried Idyll by Richard Wagner.

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6. 6
   an episode of such pastoral or romantic charm as to qualify as the subject of a poetic idyll wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

ecloguealbaanacreonticbaladaballadballade

Etymology

From Latin īdyllium, from Ancient Greek εἰδύλλιον (eidúllion), from diminutive of εἶδος (eîdos, “form, shape”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.