Meanings
plural belly dances · alternative bellydance · alternative belly-dance
- countableuncountableA form of dance originating in the Middle East and characterized by movements of the torso.
Synonyms: oriental dance
present singular third person belly dances · participle present belly dancing · participle past belly danced · past belly danced · alternative bellydance · alternative belly-dance
- To perform a belly dance.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA form of dance originating in the Middle East and characterized by movements of the torso.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna Middle Eastern dance in which the dancer makes sensuous movements of the hips and abdomen
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchdanse du ventre
- Englishbelly dance
Calque of French danse du ventre, equivalent to belly + dance. First attested in English in 1889, in an article about that year's Exposition Universelle in Paris in the November 22 edition of the Yorkshire Factory Times: "A café in the Rue du Caire attracted 2,000 spectators daily to see the ‘belly dance’, and realised a total of 400,000 francs." Early sources also used the French term danse du ventre as-is.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans maag dans
- maag dansform of dance
Arabic رَقْص شَرْقِيّ, رَقْص بَلَدِيّ
- رَقْص شَرْقِيّ (raqṣ šarqiyy)form of dance
- رَقْص بَلَدِيّ (raqṣ baladiyy)form of dance
Basque sabel dantza
- sabel dantzaform of dance
Bulgarian бели денс
- бели денсform of dance
Catalan dansa oriental, dansa del ventre
- dansa orientalform of dance
- dansa del ventreform of dance
Chinese Mandarin 肚皮舞, 東方舞 /东方舞
- 肚皮舞 (dùpíwǔ)form of dance
- 東方舞 /东方舞 (dōngfāngwǔ)form of dance
Czech břišní tanec, orientální tanec
- břišní tanecform of dance
- orientální tanecform of dance
Danish mavedans, orientalsk dans
- mavedansform of dance
- orientalsk dansform of dance
Dutch buikdans, oriëntaalse dans
- buikdansform of dance
- oriëntaalse dansform of dance
- buikdansento perform a belly dance
Esperanto ventra danco, orienta danco
- ventra dancoform of dance
- orienta dancoform of dance
Estonian kõhutants
- kõhutantsform of dance
Finnish vatsatanssi, itämainen tanssi
- vatsatanssiform of dance
- itämainen tanssiform of dance
French danse du ventre, danse orientale
- danse du ventreform of dance
- danse orientaleform of dance
German Bauchtanz, Orientalischer Tanz
- Bauchtanzform of dance
- Orientalischer Tanzform of dance
- bauchtanzento perform a belly dance
Greek χορός οριεντάλ, χορός της κοιλιάς
- χορός οριεντάλ (chorós orientál)form of dance
- χορός της κοιλιάς (chorós tis koiliás)form of dance
Hebrew מחול מזרחי, ריקוד בטן
- מחול מזרחי (makhól mizrakhí)form of dance
- ריקוד בטן (makhól béten)form of dance
Hindi बेली डांस
- बेली डांस (belī ḍāns)form of dance
Hungarian hastánc, keleti tánc
- hastáncform of dance
- keleti táncform of dance
Icelandic magadans
- magadansform of dance
Indonesian tari perut
- tari perutform of dance
Italian danza del ventre, danza dell'est
- danza del ventreform of dance
- danza dell'estform of dance
Japanese ベリーダンス, オリエンタルダンス
- ベリーダンス (berīdansu)form of dance
- オリエンタルダンス (orientarudansu)form of dance
Korean 벨리댄스, 배꼽춤
- 벨리댄스 (bellidaenseu)form of dance
- 배꼽춤 (baekkopchum)form of dance
- 오리엔탈댄스 (orientaldaenseu)form of dance
Latvian vēderdejas
- vēderdejasform of dance
Lithuanian pilvo šokis
- pilvo šokisform of dance
Malay tarian gelek
- tarian gelekform of dance
Norwegian magedans, orientalsk dans
- magedansform of dance
- orientalsk dansform of dance
Norwegian Bokmål magedans, mavedans
- magedansform of dance
- mavedansform of dance
- orientalsk dansform of dance
Persian رقص عربی
- رقص عربی (raqs 'arabi)form of dance
Polish taniec brzucha, taniec orientalny
- taniec brzuchaform of dance
- taniec orientalnyform of dance
- taniec arabskiform of dance
- wykonywać taniec brzuchato perform a belly dance
- wykonać taniec brzuchato perform a belly dance
Portuguese dança do ventre, dança oriental
- dança do ventreform of dance
- dança orientalform of dance
Romanian dans din buric, dans oriental
- dans din buricform of dance
- dans orientalform of dance
Russian та́нец живота́, восто́чный та́нец
- та́нец живота́ (tánec životá)form of dance
- восто́чный та́нец (vostóčnyj tánec)form of dance
- беллидэ́нс (bellidɛ́ns)form of dance
- беллида́нс (bellidáns)form of dance
Slovak brušný tanec, orientálny tanec
- brušný tanecform of dance
- orientálny tanecform of dance
Spanish danza del vientre, danza oriental
- danza del vientreform of dance
- danza orientalform of dance
Swedish magdans, orientalisk dans
- magdansform of dance
- orientalisk dansform of dance
Tagalog sayaw sa silangan
- sayaw sa silanganform of dance
Tamil தொப்பை நடனம்
- தொப்பை நடனம் (toppai naṭaṉam)form of dance
Thai ระบำหน้าท้อง
- ระบำหน้าท้อง (rá-bam-nâa-thong)form of dance
Turkish göbek dansı, oryantal dans
- göbek dansıform of dance
- oryantal dansform of dance
Ukrainian танець живота, Східний танець
- танець живота (tanecʹ žyvota)form of dance
- Східний танець (Sxidnyj tanecʹ)form of dance
Urdu بیلی ڈانس
- بیلی ڈانسform of dance
Vietnamese múa bụng
- múa bụngform of dance
Welsh bolddawns
- bolddawnsform of dance
Cite this entry
belly dance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/belly%20dance
“belly dance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/belly%20dance. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “belly dance,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/belly%20dance.
Source: belly dance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.