Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

rondeau

American  
[ron-doh, ron-doh] / ˈrɒn doʊ, rɒnˈdoʊ /

noun

  • rondeaux
    plural
  1. Prosody. a short poem of fixed form, consisting of 13 or 10 lines on two rhymes and having the opening words or phrase used in two places as an unrhymed refrain.

  2. a 13th-century monophonic song form consisting of two phrases, each repeated several times, and occurring in the 14th and 15th centuries in polyphonic settings.

  3. a 17th-century musical form consisting of a refrain alternating with contrasting couplets, developing in the 18th century into the sonata-rondo form.


rondeau British  
/ ˈrɒndəʊ /

noun

  1. a poem consisting of 13 or 10 lines with two rhymes and having the opening words of the first line used as an unrhymed refrain See also roundel

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of rondeau

1515–25; < Middle French: little circle; see rondel

Vocabulary lists containing rondeau

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.

See Examples For:

In a large skillet or rondeau, heat olive oil until hot.

From Seattle Times Feb. 28, 2023

And he has also put his stamp on some shapes like a wide, two-handled rondeau and a saucier, new to Hestan’s inventory.

From New York Times Jan. 10, 2022

My grandpa would listen to bob rondeau through his headphones.

From Seattle Times Nov. 26, 2020

But isn't that permissiveness exactly what makes America work: this messy mix, this barbaric yawp, this redneck rondeau, this rude commingling?

From Time Jan. 28, 2014

I play the rondeau again, and I am Amelia, fifth-grade trombonist, harmony to Madge’s melody, a mouse with a megaphone, shouting, I AM HERE!

From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari

On the margins he drew faces or began rondeaux which came to no end.

From The Grey Cloak by Thomas Mitchell Peirce

I also learned plenty of new games, and to sing rondeaux and embroider handkerchiefs for mamma.

From The Strand Magazine, Volume XXVII, Issue 160, April, 1904 by Various

Charles d’Orleans, that captive and captivating prince, wrote thousands of rondeaux; even before his time a gallant company of gentlemen composed the Livre des Cent Ballades, one hundred ballades, practically unreadable by modern men. 

From Letters on Literature by Andrew Lang

Fifteen ballades, twenty-two songs in various metres, eighty-two rondeaux, and forty-two songs for music, contain much of Marot's most beautiful work.

From A Short History of French Literature by George Saintsbury

The rondel, which Charles d'Orléans wrote with so much grace, he did not use, but his rondeaux are generally exquisite.

From A Short History of French Literature by George Saintsbury

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 14,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training