pavane

[ puh-vahn, -van; French pa-van ]

noun,plural pa·vanes

[puh-vahnz, -vanz; French pa-van]. /pəˈvɑnz, -ˈvænz; French paˈvan/.

a stately dance dating from the 16th century.
the music for this dance.

Origin of pavane

1525–35; <Middle French <Italian pavana, contraction of padovana (feminine) of Padua (Italian Padova)

Also pav·an [pav-uhn, puh-vahn, -van], /ˈpæv ən, pəˈvɑn, -ˈvæn/, pav·in [pav-uhn] /ˈpæv ən/ .

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pavane in a sentence

The master now gives particular instructions about the form and manner of dancing the Pavan.
Shakespeare and Music | Edward W. Naylor
The Pavan has been mentioned before, as the dance in Duple time which preceded the Galliard which was in a triple rhythm.
Shakespeare and Music | Edward W. Naylor
You shall hear the Spanish Pavan, let your music be grave and majestic: Page, give me tobacco; take my cloak and my sword.
The Mermaid Series. Edited by H. Ellis. The best plays of the old dramatists. Thomas Dekker. Edited, with an introduction and notes by Ernest Rhys. | Thomas Dekker
It quite took Peggy's breath away when this elegant courtier bowed before her and begged her hand for the pavan.
Sir Christopher | Maud Wilder Goodwin
He speaks of the association of Pavan and Galliard as being 'in course.'
Shakespeare and Music | Edward W. Naylor

British Dictionary definitions for pavane

pavane

pavan

/ (pəˈvɑːn, -ˈvæn, ˈpævən) /

noun

a slow and stately dance of the 16th and 17th centuries
a piece of music composed for or in the rhythm of this dance, usually characterized by a slow stately triple time

Origin of pavane

C16 pavan, via French from Spanish pavana, from Old Italian padovana Paduan (dance), from Padova Padua

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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