Meanings
nounsevdalinka (countable and uncountable, plural sevdalinkas)
plural sevdalinkas
- uncountableA traditional genre of folk music from Bosnia and Herzegovina, also popular in the ex-Yugoslavia region.
- countableA piece composed in this style.
Origin
- Arabicسَوْدَاء“black [bile]; melancholy”
- Ottoman Turkishسودالی“lover”
- Serbo-Croatiansevdalinka
- Englishsevdalinka
Borrowed from Serbo-Croatian sevdalinka, a compound of Ottoman Turkish سودالی (sevdalı, “lover”) + -inka, the first element deriving from Arabic سَوْدَاء (sawdāʔ, “black [bile]; melancholy”) + Ottoman Turkish ـلی (-lı).
More words from Serbo-Croatian, Ottoman Turkish, Arabic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Czech sevdalinka
- sevdalinkagenre of folk music
Dutch sevdalinka, sevdah
- sevdalinkagenre of folk music
- sevdahgenre of folk music
Finnish sevdalinka
- sevdalinkagenre of folk music
French sevdalinka
- sevdalinkagenre of folk music
German Sevdalinka
- Sevdalinkagenre of folk music
Greek σεβνταλίνκα
- σεβνταλίνκα (sevntalínka)genre of folk music
Polish sevdalinka, sevdah
- sevdalinkagenre of folk music
- sevdahgenre of folk music
Russian севдали́нка
- севдали́нка (sevdalínka)genre of folk music
Swedish sevdah
- sevdahgenre of folk music
Turkish sevdalinka
- sevdalinkagenre of folk music
Ukrainian севдалінка
- севдалінка (sevdalinka)genre of folk music
Cite this entry
APA
sevdalinka. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sevdalinka
MLA
“sevdalinka.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sevdalinka. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sevdalinka,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sevdalinka.
Source: sevdalinka on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.