Serenaders

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Musicians who sing or play romantic songs outdoors, often at night, beneath the window of the person they admire
2. Those who give a musical tribute by night to a beloved, typically performing under a balcony or outside a house
3. Performers of evening love songs in the open air, traditionally playing for a sweetheart or someone they court

Etymology: "Serenaders" is simply the plural of "serenader," a person who performs a serenade. The base word, "serenade," comes from Italian "serenata," an evening song, and the agent ending "-er" was attached to it in English to name the singer. The result is a noun for the musicians who gather under a window at night to sing to a lover. Because the word is formed from a base plus an ending, its history is short and transparent: the core idea of an evening performance was carried over with the Italian term, and English added its own suffix to turn the performance into a person. The form is a regular English pattern, so the plural simply adds "s," with no irregular change.