Serenade
noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A love song that is sung directly to one's love interest, especially one performed below the window of a loved one in the evening.
"From me to thee glad serenades, / Dances for thee I propose saluting thee, adornments and feastings for thee, / And the sights of the open landscape and the high-spread sky are fitting, / And life and the fields, and the huge and thoughtful night."
- 2 a musical composition in several movements; has no fixed form wordnet
- 3 An instrumental composition in several movements.
"“Eine kleine Nachtmusik” is a well-known serenade written by Mozart."
- 4 a song characteristically played outside the house of a woman wordnet
- 1 To sing or play a serenade for (someone). transitive
"The Southampton striker, who also struck a post late on, was being serenaded by the Wembley crowd before the end and should probably brace himself for some Lambert-mania over the coming days but, amid the eulogies, it should not overlook the deficiencies that were evident in another stodgy England performance."
- 2 sing and play for somebody wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"In the old days, it was customary for a gentleman to serenade his beloved."
Etymology
Borrowed from French sérénade, from Italian serenata, from the past participle of serenare, from Latin serenare, from serenus (“calm”), of uncertain origin (see there).