mazurka

or ma·zour·ka

[ muh-zur-kuh, -zoo r- ]

/ məˈzɜr kə, -ˈzʊər- /

noun

a lively Polish dance in moderately quick triple meter.

music for, or in the rhythm of, this dance.

Nearby words

mazopathy, mazopexy, mazoplasia, mazu, mazuma, mazurka, mazy, mazzard, mazzini, mazzini, giuseppe, mazzinian

Origin of mazurka

1810–20; < Polish, equivalent to Mazur Mazovia (district in northern Poland) + -ka noun suffix

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

Examples from the Web for mazurka

Both the cotillon and the mazurka are danced—one before, the other after supper—at Court balls and other dances.
The Diary of a Superfluous Man and Other Stories|Ivn Turgnieff
"I shall sleep badly to-night," she said to me when the mazurka was over.
A Hero of Our Time|M. Y. Lermontov
The women of his family followed, and pairs of male guests danced a sort of Mazurka step beside him.
Tent Work in Palestine|Claude Reignier Conder
In a mazurka a motive occupies only one measure, in the menuet two, and in the waltz four.
Piano Playing|Josef Hofmann

My heart had been full of song, and I had heard in imagination the tune of the mazurka, but this was very harsh music.
The Forged Coupon and Other Stories|Leo Tolstoy

British Dictionary definitions for mazurka

mazurka

mazourka

/ (məˈzɜːkə) /

noun

a Polish national dance in triple time

a piece of music composed for this dance

Word Origin for mazurka

C19: from Polish: (dance) of Mazur (Mazovia) province in Poland

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

Word Origin and History for mazurka

mazurka

lively dance, also mazourka, 1818, from Russian mazurka, from Polish mazurek "dance of the Mazur," a reference to inhabitants of Mazowsze (Medieval Latin Mazovia), ancient region in central Poland. The Polish accusative in tanczyc mazurka "to dance the mazurek" was interpreted in Russian as a feminine affix, hence the -ka ending.