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
"Delighted!" said I;—not that I had the remotest idea what a "polonaise" was, but I was determined not to flinch.
From Music-Study in Germany from the Home Correspondence of Amy Fay by Fay, Amy
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.
