czardas

American  

[chahr-dahsh] / ˈtʃɑr dɑʃ /

Or csardas

noun

1. a Hungarian national dance in two movements, one slow and the other fast.

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czardas British  

/ ˈtʃɑːdæʃ /

noun

1. a Hungarian national dance of alternating slow and fast sections

2. a piece of music composed for or in the rhythm of this dance

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Etymology

Origin of czardas

First recorded in 1855–60; from Hungarian csárdás, equivalent to csárda “wayside tavern” (from Serbo-Croatian čȁrdāk originally, “watchtower,” from Turkish çardak “bower, booth, pergola,” from Persian chārtāk “four-cornered room”; čār “four” + tāk “vault”) + -s adjective suffix; earlier csárdák was analyzed as csárda + -k plural suffix

Example Sentences

He is visionary and vastly entertaining; he even hoofs, far too briefly, a thrilling, thumping czardas.

From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2018

Orchester Prazevica The music of Slovak guitarist Tomas Drgon’s string combo mixes Eastern European czardas, Gypsy swing and jazz.

From Washington Post • Oct. 4, 2016

And in “Cortège Hongrois,” set to music from Glazunov’s “Raymonda,” Mikayla Lambert and Mr. Farley led the classical couples, while Christina Ghiardi and Mr. Coll fronted the lively czardas group.

From New York Times • Jun. 7, 2012

The other corps, as mock Magyars, stomped and whirled through a rousing czardas that looked as if it might have been borrowed from Russia's bouncy, folkish Moiseyev dancers.

From Time Magazine Archive

Familiar as it is to us, it is yet as foreign a music as any Tyrolean jodel or Hungarian czardas.

From Contemporary American Composers Being a Study of the Music of This Country, Its Present Conditions and Its Future, with Critical Estimates and Biographies of the Principal Living Composers; and an Abundance of Portraits, Fac-simile Musical Autographs, and Compositions by Hughes, Rupert