noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A cradlesong, a soothing song to calm children or lull them to sleep.

   "sing a lullaby"

2. 2
   the act of singing a quiet song to lull a child to sleep wordnet
3. 3
   a quiet song intended to lull a child to sleep wordnet

Verb

1. 1
   To sing a lullaby to. transitive

Synonyms

All synonyms

berceuseberceusecradlesonganestheticcradle songcradle song

Example

More examples

"Ann sang a lullaby for her little sister."

Etymology

From Middle English lullen (“to lull”) + bye. First recorded circa 1560. Compare Old English bī, bī (“lullaby!”, interjection).

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