rondeau

[ ron-doh, ron-doh ]

noun,plural ron·deaux [ron-dohz, ron-dohz]. /ˈrɒn doʊz, rɒnˈdoʊz/.
  1. Prosody. a short poem of fixed form, consisting of 13 or 10 lines on two rhymes and having the opening words or phrase used in two places as an unrhymed refrain.

  2. a 13th-century monophonic song form consisting of two phrases, each repeated several times, and occurring in the 14th and 15th centuries in polyphonic settings.

  1. a 17th-century musical form consisting of a refrain alternating with contrasting couplets, developing in the 18th century into the sonata-rondo form.

Origin of rondeau

1
1515–25; <Middle French: little circle; see rondel

Words Nearby rondeau

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How to use rondeau in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for rondeau

rondeau

/ (ˈrɒndəʊ) /


nounplural -deaux (-dəʊ, -dəʊz)
  1. a poem consisting of 13 or 10 lines with two rhymes and having the opening words of the first line used as an unrhymed refrain: See also roundel

Origin of rondeau

1
C16: from Old French, from rondel a little round, from rond round

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