gavotte

or ga·vot

[ guh-vot ]

/ gəˈvɒt /

noun

an old French dance in moderately quick quadruple meter.

a piece of music for, or in the rhythm of, this dance, often forming one of the movements in the classical suite, usually following the saraband.

Nearby words

gavel, gavel-to-gavel, gavelkind, gavial, gavin, gavotte, gaw, gawain, gawain, sir, gawk, gawky

Origin of gavotte

1690–1700; < French < Provençal gavoto a mountaineer of Provence, a dance of such mountaineers, apparently derivative of gava bird's crop (probably < pre-Latin *gaba throat, crop, goiter), alluding to the prevalence of goiter among the mountaineers

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for gavotte

The Gavotte is a lively dance-measure in common time, beginning, as a rule, on the third beat.
How to Listen to Music, 7th ed.|Henry Edward Krehbiel
After breakfast I had a last practice with him and Lecomte for the gavotte.
Letters of a Diplomat's Wife|Mary King Waddington
The sounds were plainer now, and presently resolved into the rhythmic accents of a gavotte.
Visionaries|James Huneker
Generally faster than the gavotte, and commences on the fourth beat.
Critical & Historical Essays|Edward MacDowell

I had had such a confined summer that Clyde took me out to Gavotte's camp as soon as I was able to sit up and be driven.
Letters of a Woman Homesteader|Elinore Pruitt Stewart

British Dictionary definitions for gavotte

gavotte

gavot

/ (ɡəˈvɒt) /

noun

an old formal dance in quadruple time

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

Word Origin for gavotte

C17: from French, from Provençal gavoto, from gavot mountaineer, dweller in the Alps (where the dance originated), from gava goitre (widespread in the Alps), from Old Latin gaba (unattested) throat

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012