vaudeville

[ vawd-vil, vohd-, vaw-duh- ]

noun

1. theatrical entertainment consisting of a number of individual performances, acts, or mixed numbers, as by comedians, singers, dancers, acrobats, and magicians. Compare variety ( def 9 ).
2. a theatrical piece of light or amusing character, interspersed with songs and dances.
3. a satirical cabaret song.

vaudeville

/ ˈvəʊdəvɪl; ˈvɔː- /

noun

1. variety entertainment consisting of short acts such as acrobatic turns, song-and-dance routines, animal acts, etc, popular esp in the early 20th century Brit namemusic hall
2. a light or comic theatrical piece interspersed with songs and dances

vaudeville

1. Light theatrical entertainment, popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, consisting of a succession of short acts. A vaudeville show usually included comedians, singers, dancers, jugglers, trained animals, magicians, and the like.

Word History and Origins

Origin of vaudeville¹

1730–40; < French, shortened alteration of Middle French chanson du vau de Vire “song of the vale ( def ) of Vire,” a valley of Calvados, France, noted for satirical folksongs

Word History and Origins

Origin of vaudeville¹

C18: from French, from vaudevire satirical folk song, shortened from chanson du vau de Vire song of the valley of Vire, a district in Normandy where this type of song flourished

Example Sentences

The odd (though beautiful) pair here is Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins who were a hit on the vaudeville circuit.

From The Daily Beast

Vaudeville was dead, Houdini was dead—he was off the radar.

From The Daily Beast

His life as the child of a vaudeville couple was one-step above living in the circus—cheap hotels and rooming houses were home.

From The Daily Beast

Joe created at Engel Stadium the intersection between vaudeville and baseball.

From The Daily Beast

Every election is a variation on the old vaudeville joke, "compared to what?"

From The Daily Beast

For a long time he wrote vaudeville sketches over the name of Cursy.

From Project Gutenberg

No; only if you had told me that you wanted to come to the Vaudeville to-night I could have got this box for you as well as he.

From Project Gutenberg

In 1835 the marquise defended vaudeville entertainments against Lady Dudley, who said she could not endure them.

From Project Gutenberg

He came back warily, forgetting his English accent, which he had laboriously imitated in admiration of a certain vaudeville hero.

From Project Gutenberg

The Doctor thought this a capital idea for a vaudeville, but poor enough in real life, and doubted my success.

From Project Gutenberg