aubade

UK: /obad/ US: (ō bad′, ō bäd′; Fr. ō bad′)

Inflections of 'aubade' (n): npl: aubades

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

au•bade  (ō bad′, ō bäd′; Fr. ō bad′), n., pl. au•bades (ō badz′, ō bädz′; Fr. ō bad′). [Music.]

1. Music and Dance a piece sung or played outdoors at dawn, usually as a compliment to someone.

• Vulgar Latin, noun, nominal use of feminine of Latin albus white, clear) + -ade -ade¹
• Provencal alba song about the parting of two lovers at dawn
• French, Middle French, equivalent. to aube (
• 1670–80

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

aubade / obad/ noun

1. a song or poem appropriate to or greeting the dawn

Compare serenadeEtymology: 19th Century: from French, from Old Provençal aubada (unattested), from auba dawn, ultimately from Latin albus white