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.

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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

Words nearby gavotte

gavelkind, gavel-to-gavel, gavial, Gavin, Gävle, gavotte, gaw, Gawain, Gawain, Sir, gawk, gawky
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for gavotte

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