polonaise
Americannoun
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a slow dance of Polish origin, in triple meter, consisting chiefly of a march or promenade in couples.
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a piece of music for, or in the rhythm of, such a dance.
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Also polonese a coatlike outer dress, combining bodice and cutaway overskirt, worn in the late 18th century over a separate skirt.
noun
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a ceremonial marchlike dance in three-four time from Poland
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a piece of music composed for or in the rhythm of this dance
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a woman's costume with a tight bodice and an overskirt drawn back to show a decorative underskirt
Etymology
Origin of polonaise
1765–75; < French, feminine of polonais Polish, equivalent to Polon- (< Medieval Latin Polonia Poland) + -ais -ese
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.
The leader of the Lodz street dance, Janusz Wielgosz, who donned a historic outfit for the occasion, said the polonaise is about beauty.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 19, 2024
Yang articulated Chopin’s “Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante” in gentle ripples that surged into grand waves of sound from the orchestra.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 2, 2021
Sibelius’ beloved concerto is not dance-based, although a critic once likened the last movement to a polonaise for polar bears.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2018
They allude to courtly French dances, Italian love songs, the polonaise.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 25, 2016
"How startlingly pretty, in spite of the cotton lace and the dreadful polonaise!"
From Louisiana by Burnett, Frances Hodgson
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.
