ditty
A short, simple verse or song.
Noun
- A short, simple verse or song.
- religious, martial, or civil ditties - [1644], [John Milton], Of Education. To Master Samuel Hartlib, [London]: […] [Thomas Underhill and/or Thomas Johnson], →OCLC:
- And to the warbling lute soft ditties sing. - 1636, G[eorge] S[andys], “(please specify the page)”, in A Paraphrase upon the Psalmes of David. And upon the Hymnes Dispersed throughout the Old and New Testaments, London:...
- This fine effort didn't just fall through a crack, it never got out the starting gate. Despite thoughtful ditties like the up-tempo, stomping "People (We Need a Change)," "Uncle James," which first appeared on New York...
- A saying or utterance, especially one that is short and frequently repeated.
- O, too high ditty for my simple rime. - 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 50:
- Ellipsis of ditty bag.
Origin
From Middle English dite, ditee, from Old French ditie or dité, from ditier, from Latin dictāre (participle dictatus).
Forms
Verb
- To sing; to warble a little tune.
- Beasts fain would sing; birds ditty to their notes. - [1633], George Herbert, edited by [Nicholas Ferrar], The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel;...