
n., pl., -ra·li (-rä'lē), or -rales.
- An instrumental or vocal composition with a tender melody in a moderately slow rhythm, suggestive of traditional shepherds' music and idyllic rural life.
- A dramatic performance or opera, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries, that was based on a rural theme or subject.
[Italian, of herdsmen, pastorale, from Latin pāstōrālis. See pastoral.]






