étoile means the leading ballet dancer in a company. It carries an Arena rating of 1471, earned across 4 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, étoile ranks #1,838 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #2,978 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #5,318 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #5,776 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
étoile is pronounced /əˈtwɑːl/.
Why “étoile” is a great word
The highest rank, the leading dancer, in a classical ballet company, particularly as a formal title. Borrowed from French étoile (“star”), from Middle French estoile, from Latin stēlla (“star”); first known use in English in 1727. Unlike “prima ballerina,” which specifically crowns the leading woman, or the more generic “principal dancer,” étoile is a specific, exalted station within the hierarchy of traditions like the Paris Opera Ballet, a rank attainable by dancers of any gender. It is the solitary figure in the white spotlight at the curtain call, the impossible suspension at the apex of a grand jeté, the collective breath of an audience held and then released—a title that names not just a performer but a gravitational center, seen most clearly from a great distance.
Etymology
Borrowed from French étoile. Doublet of estoile, stella, and stelo; related to aster and star.
noun
- The leading ballet dancer in a company
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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