ditty - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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

ditty (plural ditties)

  1. A short, simple verse or song.
    • 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.
    • 1976, Andrew Hamilton, “Circles Review”, in allmusic.com‎[1], archived from the original on 4 May 2026, people:
      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 City's debut album, "Circles," and "Love (I Guess That's the Fool in Me)."
  2. A saying or utterance, especially one that is short and frequently repeated.
  3. Ellipsis of ditty bag.

a short verse or tune

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

  1. (intransitive, archaic, obsolete) 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:
      Beasts fain would sing; birds ditty to their notes.