cotillion
Americannoun
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a formal ball given especially for debutantes.
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a lively French social dance originating in the 18th century, consisting of a variety of steps and figures and performed by couples.
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any of various dances resembling the quadrille.
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music arranged or played for these dances.
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a formalized dance for a large number of people, in which a head couple leads the other dancers through elaborate and stately figures.
noun
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a French formation dance of the 18th century
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a quadrille
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a complicated dance with frequent changes of partners
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a formal ball, esp one at which debutantes are presented
Etymology
Origin of cotillion
1760–70; < French cotillon kind of dance, in Old French: petticoat, equivalent to cote coat + -illon diminutive suffix
Explanation
A cotillion is either a dance that originated in France in the 18th century or a ball where debutantes are presented. The earliest sense of this word goes back to France and the 1700's: this cotillion was a dance with complicated steps and movements. This was a quick, lively sort of dance that must have been a lot of fun back in the day. More recently, a cotillion became the name of a ball (dance event) in the United States. Debutantes — young society ladies — are presented at cotillions. So when you think of cotillions, think of fancy-schmancy dances and high society.
Vocabulary lists containing cotillion
Tears of a Tiger
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The Unteachables
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Why We Fly
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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 courtly gentleman guided women around the floor to big band standards with all the aplomb of teenage boys waltzing at a cotillion dance they’ve been forced to attend by their parents.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2025
This is a business relationship, not a cotillion.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 12, 2022
Speaking of dancing, “Sheaves of Wheat” radiates all the formal elegance of a rustic cotillion, a marvelous panoramic close-up of bundled, golden wheat casting pale blue shadows.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2022
I hope the villain reveals him- or herself and you can cut them socially at your next cotillion.
From Slate ● Apr. 15, 2019
He dreamed of little girls, dancing a cotillion.
From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara
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.
