Home › Words › B › battementbattementbattement · noun — A ballet move involving a beating action with an extended leg.Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, battement ranks #16,849 of 42,862 for Qualifying.EtymologyBorrowed from French battement (“beating, hitting”).nounA ballet move involving a beating action with an extended legA thumping or beating sensatione.g.“Secondly, though there is an audible vertigo, as is known by the battement, or undulations of sound in the ears, which many vertiginous people experience[…].” — 1796, Erasmus Darwin, Zoonomia, Vol. I:Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).Words closest in meaningBy meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.fouetté 66% match — A ballet move in which either the body or the working leg is whipped around forcefully. vs battement →battu 65% match — Performed with a striking together of the legs. vs battement →abeat 64% match — Beating. vs battement →batterie 62% match — A brilliant display of virtuosity in which the dancer's legs open and close rapidly while in the air, with the illusion of striking together and rebounding. vs battement →beat 62% match — A stroke; a blow. vs battement →balançoire 62% match — Swinging the working leg between front and back through first position, usually in conjunction with grands battements or attitudes and involving seesaw-like shifting of the upper body in opposition to the legs. vs battement →ballonné 61% match — A step where the leg is extended (front, side, or back) at 45 degrees; the knee is then bent and the foot brought to a sur le cou-de-pied position. vs battement →ballotté 61% match — A jumping step that consists of coupé dessous and small developpés performed with a rocking and swinging movement. vs battement →