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fa-la

American  
[fah-lah] / fɑˈlɑ /

noun

  1. a text or refrain in old songs.

  2. a type of part song or madrigal popular in the 16th and 17th centuries.

fa-la British  
/ fɑːˈlɑː /

noun

  1. (esp in 16th-century songs) a refrain sung to the syllables fa-la-la

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of fa-la

First recorded in 1585–95; special use of fa la, meaningless sound sequence found in old popular refrains

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.