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minuet

[min-yoo-et]

noun

  1. a slow, stately dance in triple meter, popular in the 17th and 18th centuries.

  2. a piece of music for such a dance or in its rhythm.



minuet

/ ˌmɪnjʊˈɛt /

noun

  1. a stately court dance of the 17th and 18th centuries in triple time

  2. a piece of music composed for or in the rhythm of this dance, sometimes as a movement in a suite, sonata, or symphony See also scherzo

“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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of minuet1

1665–75; < French menuet, equivalent to menu small ( menu ) + -et -et; so called from the shortness of the dancers' steps
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Word History and Origins

Origin of minuet1

C17: from French menuet dainty (referring to the dance steps), from menu small
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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.

This was no primly patterned minuet, where dancers stood side by side, attention directed to precisely mapping elaborate steps.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He “had a fine clear voice” and sang minuets and such and “fiddled in the parlor.”

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One such sequence passed through the breakneck minuet of the 19th, the controlled delirium of the 20th and the clean, shiny descents of the 23rd to culminate in the famous 25th, the so-called black pearl.

Read more on New York Times

From there, variations surface with nods to Classical and Baroque forms: a dancerly minuet or rondo, a concerto grosso of angular strings, a wandering ricercare.

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He has discontinued the elbowing, apparently, while sustaining that courtside calm, still looking out there with fascination at the same minuet after 52 years of coaching.

Read more on Washington Post

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minuendMinuit