Word Study
ballade
CIDE DICTIONARY
A form of French versification, sometimes imitated in English, in which three or four rhymes recur through three stanzas of eight or ten lines each, the stanzas concluding with a refrain, and the whole poem with an envoy. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
ballade, n.
1 a poem of one or more triplets of stanzas with a repeated refrain and an envoy.
2 Mus. a short lyrical piece, esp. for piano.
1 a poem of one or more triplets of stanzas with a repeated refrain and an envoy.
2 Mus. a short lyrical piece, esp. for piano.
Etymology
earlier spelling and pronunc. of BALLAD
For further exploring for "ballade" in Webster Dictionary Online