ditty

English

Etymology

From Middle English dite, ditee, from Old French ditie or dité, from ditier, from Latin dictāre (participle dictatus).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪti/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (UK)

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• Homophones: diddy (US)
• Rhymes: -ɪti

Noun

ditty (plural ditties)

1. A short, simple verse or song.

   The Acme mattress ditty has been stuck in my head all day.

   • [1644], [John Milton], Of Education. To Master Samuel Hartlib, [London: […] Thomas Underhill and/or Thomas Johnson], →OCLC:

     religious, martial, or civil ditties

   • 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: [Andrew Hebb […]], →OCLC:

     And to the warbling lute soft ditties sing.

2. A saying or utterance, especially one that is short and frequently repeated.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 50:

     O, too high ditty for my simple rime.

Translations

a short verse or tune

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 小曲 (zh) (xiǎoqǔ)

• Czech: popěvek (cs) m, rýmovačka f
• Esperanto: kanteto
• French: chansonnette (fr)
• German: Ständchen (de) n
• Maori: ruriruri, pao, hakirara
• Russian: пе́сенка (ru) f (pésenka), моти́в (ru) m (motív)
• Spanish: cancioneta f
• Swedish: trudelutt (sv) c

Verb

ditty (third-person singular simple present ditties, present participle dittying, simple past and past participle dittied)

1. To sing; to warble a little tune.
   • [1633], George Herbert, edited by [Nicholas Ferrar], The Temple: Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC; reprinted London: Elliot Stock, […], 1885, →OCLC:

     Beasts fain would sing; birds ditty to their notes.

See also

• ditty bag, ditty box
• doggerel
• jingle