polonaise

[ pol-uh-neyz, poh-luh- ]

noun

1. a slow dance of Polish origin, in triple meter, consisting chiefly of a march or promenade in couples.
2. a piece of music for, or in the rhythm of, such a dance.
3. Also pol·o·nese [] a coatlike outer dress, combining bodice and cutaway overskirt, worn in the late 18th century over a separate skirt.

polonaise

/ ˌpɒləˈneɪz /

noun

1. a ceremonial marchlike dance in three-four time from Poland
2. a piece of music composed for or in the rhythm of this dance
3. a woman's costume with a tight bodice and an overskirt drawn back to show a decorative underskirt

Word History and Origins

Origin of polonaise¹

1765–75; < French, feminine of polonais Polish, equivalent to Polon- (< Medieval Latin Polonia Poland) + -ais -ese

Word History and Origins

Origin of polonaise¹

C18: from French danse polonaise Polish dance

Example Sentences

More of the Chopinesque than in the Polonaise may be discovered in the Introduction, which was less of a piece d'occasion.

From Project Gutenberg

The A flat major Polonaise (Op. 53), for instance, he could not thunder forth in the way we are accustomed to hear it.

From Project Gutenberg

There is also a healthy vigour, which, for instance, in the A major Polonaise assumes a brilliantly-heroic form.

From Project Gutenberg

My cheval de bataille was the Polonaise from Mignon, at the end of which I had introduced some chromatic trills.

From Project Gutenberg

Taken as a whole, Felina was a successful part for me; largely on account of that piece of glittering generalities, the Polonaise.

From Project Gutenberg