branle

American  

[bran-l] / ˈbræn l /

noun

1. a lively 16th- and 17th-century round dance originating in France.

2. the music for this dance.

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branle British  

/ ˈbrænəl /

noun

1. an old French country dance performed in a linked circle

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Etymology

Origin of branle

1575–85; < Middle French, derivative of branler to shake, swing (probably from the phrase branler une danse ), Old French bran ( s ) ler to move (a limb, the head), contraction of brandeler to shake, equivalent to brand ( ir ) to brandish + -eler suffix of expressive verbs < Vulgar Latin *-illāre

Example Sentences

That happiness carries over into the Washerwoman, a branle, or circle dance, that flourished in the countryside.

From New York Times • Jul. 4, 2013

I returned to the ballroom, and the first thing I saw was Francezka dancing the wildest branle I ever saw with the most graceful abandon imaginable.

From Francezka by Seawell, Molly Elliot

Bien suivant la seule raison n'est juste de soi: tout branle avec le temps.

From Miscellaneous Studies; a series of essays by Pater, Walter

I do not know what hindered me from embracing you before the whole Court last night, when you danced the branle with tapers.

From The Works of Honor? de Balzac About Catherine de' Medici, Seraphita and Other Stories by Balzac, Honor? de

Antinous fl�tris, dandys � face glabre, Cadavres vernisses, lovelaces chenus, Le branle universel de la danse macabre Vous entraine en des lieux qui ne sont pas connus!

From Oscar Wilde by Ingleby, Leonard Cresswell