Meanings
nounlullaby (plural lullabies)
plural lullabies · alternative archaic lullabye
- A cradlesong, a soothing song to calm children or lull them to sleep.
sing a lullaby
Synonyms: berceuse, cradle song
verblullaby (third-person singular simple present lullabies, present participle lullabying, simple past and past participle lullabied)
present singular third person lullabies · participle present lullabying · participle past lullabied · past lullabied · alternative archaic lullabye
- transitiveTo sing a lullaby to.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA cradlesong, a soothing song to calm children or lull them to sleep.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishlullen“to lull”
- Englishlullaby
From Middle English lullen (“to lull”) + bye. First recorded c. 1560. Compare Old English bī, bī (“lullaby!”, interjection).
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans slaapliedjie, wiegeliedjie
- slaapliedjiea soothing song to lull children to sleep
- wiegeliedjiea soothing song to lull children to sleep
Ancient Greek βαυκάλημα
- βαυκάλημα (baukálēma)a soothing song to lull children to sleep
Arabic تَهْوِيدَة
- تَهْوِيدَة (tahwīda)a soothing song to lull children to sleep
Basque lo-kanta, sehaska-kanta
- lo-kantaa soothing song to lull children to sleep
- sehaska-kantaa soothing song to lull children to sleep
Bulgarian приспи́вна пе́сен
- приспи́вна пе́сен (prispívna pésen)a soothing song to lull children to sleep
Catalan cançó de bressol, vou-verivou
- cançó de bressola soothing song to lull children to sleep
- vou-verivoua soothing song to lull children to sleep
Chinese Cantonese 催眠曲, 搖籃曲 /摇篮曲
- 催眠曲 (ceoi¹ min⁴ kuk¹)a soothing song to lull children to sleep
- 搖籃曲 /摇篮曲 (jiu⁴ laam⁴ kuk¹)a soothing song to lull children to sleep
Chinese Mandarin 催眠曲, 搖籃曲 /摇篮曲
- 催眠曲 (cuīmiánqǔ)a soothing song to lull children to sleep
- 搖籃曲 /摇篮曲 (yáolánqǔ)a soothing song to lull children to sleep
Czech ukolébavka
- ukolébavkaa soothing song to lull children to sleep
Danish godnatsang
- godnatsanga soothing song to lull children to sleep
Dutch slaapliedje, wiegeliedje
- slaapliedjea soothing song to lull children to sleep
- wiegeliedjea soothing song to lull children to sleep
- wiegelieda soothing song to lull children to sleep
Esperanto lulkanto
- lulkantoa soothing song to lull children to sleep
Estonian hällilaul, unelaul
- hällilaula soothing song to lull children to sleep
- unelaula soothing song to lull children to sleep
Finnish tuutulaulu, kehtolaulu
- tuutulaulua soothing song to lull children to sleep
- kehtolaulua soothing song to lull children to sleep
French berceuse
- berceusea soothing song to lull children to sleep
German Schlaflied, Wiegenlied
- Schlaflieda soothing song to lull children to sleep
- Wiegenlieda soothing song to lull children to sleep
Greek νανούρισμα
- νανούρισμα (nanoúrisma)a soothing song to lull children to sleep
Hebrew שִׁיר עֶרֶשׂ
- שִׁיר עֶרֶשׂ (shir éres)a soothing song to lull children to sleep
Hindi लोरी
- लोरी (lorī)a soothing song to lull children to sleep
Hungarian altatódal, bölcsődal
- altatódala soothing song to lull children to sleep
- bölcsődala soothing song to lull children to sleep
Icelandic vögguvísa
- vögguvísaa soothing song to lull children to sleep
Indonesian nina-bobok
- nina-boboka soothing song to lull children to sleep
Irish suantraí
- suantraía soothing song to lull children to sleep
Italian ninna nanna
- ninna nannaa soothing song to lull children to sleep
Japanese 子守歌, ララバイ
- 子守歌 (komoriuta)a soothing song to lull children to sleep
- ララバイ (rarabai)a soothing song to lull children to sleep
Korean 자장가, 자장노래
- 자장가 (jajangga)a soothing song to lull children to sleep
- 자장노래 (jajangnorae)a soothing song to lull children to sleep
Latin lallus
- lallusa soothing song to lull children to sleep
Latvian šūpļa dziesma
- šūpļa dziesmaa soothing song to lull children to sleep
Lithuanian lopšinė
- lopšinėa soothing song to lull children to sleep
Malay dondang, nyannyan pengulit
- dondanga soothing song to lull children to sleep
- nyannyan pengulita soothing song to lull children to sleep
- nina-boboka soothing song to lull children to sleep
Māori taiapo, pōpō
- taiapoa soothing song to lull children to sleep
- pōpōa soothing song to lull children to sleep
- ngāorioria soothing song to lull children to sleep
- orioria soothing song to lull children to sleep
Norwegian Bokmål vuggesang, vuggevise
- vuggesanga soothing song to lull children to sleep
- vuggevisea soothing song to lull children to sleep
Polish kołysanka
- kołysankaa soothing song to lull children to sleep
Portuguese canção de embalar, canção de ninar
- canção de embalara soothing song to lull children to sleep
- canção de ninara soothing song to lull children to sleep
Romanian cântec de leagăn
- cântec de leagăna soothing song to lull children to sleep
Russian колыбе́льная
- колыбе́льная (kolybélʹnaja)a soothing song to lull children to sleep
Scottish Gaelic òran tàlaidh
- òran tàlaidha soothing song to lull children to sleep
Slovak uspávanka
- uspávankaa soothing song to lull children to sleep
Spanish canción de cuna, nana
- canción de cunaa soothing song to lull children to sleep
- nanaa soothing song to lull children to sleep
- canto de cunaa soothing song to lull children to sleep
- arrulloa soothing song to lull children to sleep
- arroróa soothing song to lull children to sleep
- arrorróa soothing song to lull children to sleep
- arrurrúa soothing song to lull children to sleep
- arrurúa soothing song to lull children to sleep
Swedish vaggvisa, vaggsång
- vaggvisaa soothing song to lull children to sleep
- vaggsånga soothing song to lull children to sleep
Tagalog oyayi, lulay
- oyayia soothing song to lull children to sleep
- lulaya soothing song to lull children to sleep
Tamil தாலாட்டு
- தாலாட்டு (tālāṭṭu)a soothing song to lull children to sleep
Thai เพลงกล่อมเด็ก
- เพลงกล่อมเด็ก (pleeng-glɔ̀m-dèk)a soothing song to lull children to sleep
Turkish ninni
- ninnia soothing song to lull children to sleep
Ukrainian колиско́ва
- колиско́ва (kolyskóva)a soothing song to lull children to sleep
Urdu لوری
- لوری (lorī)a soothing song to lull children to sleep
Vietnamese bài hát ru
- bài hát rua soothing song to lull children to sleep
Welsh hwiangerdd, suo-gân
- hwiangerdda soothing song to lull children to sleep
- suo-gâna soothing song to lull children to sleep
Yiddish וויגליד
- וויגליד (viglid)a soothing song to lull children to sleep
Cite this entry
APA
lullaby. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lullaby
MLA
“lullaby.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lullaby. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lullaby,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lullaby.
Source: lullaby on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.