gavotte
Americannoun
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an old French dance in moderately quick quadruple meter.
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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.
noun
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an old formal dance in quadruple time
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a piece of music composed for or in the rhythm of this dance
Etymology
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
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.
He relented with a single brief and charming encore: the Gavotte from Prokofiev’s “Cinderella,” which he coyly typed out like an inside joke between him and the piano.
From Washington Post • Apr. 19, 2023
As an encore, Trifonov played more Prokofiev: the Gavotte from his “Three Pieces From ‘Cinderella,’” based on his 1940s ballet.
From New York Times • Apr. 19, 2023
There was a shy Courante, a bustling Sarabande, a haltingly curious Gavotte, a sociable and chatty Prelude.
From New York Times • Dec. 9, 2012
The program consisted of Strathspeys, Circassian Circles, Spanish Gavotte, the Reel of Tulloch, eightsomes and waltzes.
From Time Magazine Archive
Soon we had a roaring fire, and Gavotte made the horses comfortable in one of the cabins.
From Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Stewart, Elinore Pruitt
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.
