bayadere
Americannoun
noun
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a dancing girl, esp one serving in a Hindu temple
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a fabric or design with horizontal stripes, esp of a bright colour
adjective
Etymology
Origin of bayadere
1855–60; < French: a professional female dancer of India < Portuguese bailadeira, feminine of bailador dancer ( baila ( r ) to dance ( ball 2 ) + -dor < Latin -tor -tor ); apparently in reference to the fabrics worn by such dancers
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The reflection of a greater thing claimed her and taught her, held her like a bayadere in a temple court.
From Foes by Johnston, Mary
The bayadere made toward the sea-front, not many yards distant, sped across the wharf and over the edge apparently into the water.
From Saul of Tarsus A Tale of the Early Christians by Miller, Elizabeth
Therefore the bayadere, with her spinning pas seul and buzzing romore, who appears to the eater of the figs, is the magic top in person, her form being taken from the fig.
From Legends of Florence Collected from the People, First Series by Leland, Charles Godfrey
With the bayadere following he raced through the cloyed musk of the temple toward the square of lesser darkness at the rear, which showed the exit into the court.
From Saul of Tarsus A Tale of the Early Christians by Miller, Elizabeth
It is the bayadere dance, for the glory of Brahma!
From Saul of Tarsus A Tale of the Early Christians by Miller, Elizabeth
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.