saraband

American  

[sar-uh-band] / ˈsær əˌbænd /

Or sarabande

noun

1. a slow, stately Spanish dance, especially of the 17th and 18th centuries, in triple meter, derived from a vigorous castanet dance.

2. a piece of music for or using the rhythm of this dance, usually forming one of the movements in the classical suite and following the courante.

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Etymology

Origin of saraband

1610–20; < French sarabande < Spanish zarabanda, perhaps < Arabic sarband a kind of dance < Persian

Example Sentences

Yes, he wrote a saraband in its traditional three-quarter time, but it’s suspended, its feet hovering above the ground with a patient, forlorn, undanceable tune, played by Katia with sensitivity.

From New York Times • Apr. 28, 2022

A sombre Corelli saraband is played by Enrique Fernandez Arb�s and the Madrid Symphony as filler for the last record.

From Time Magazine Archive

Getting an armistice took two more years of an excruciating saraband between envoys who may have loathed each other but had too much to lose to get mad.

From Time Magazine Archive

On through the day, Lyndon and Lady Bird moved, almost ritualistically, as in a stately saraband.

From Time Magazine Archive

The flowers in the tall gold epergne in the centre of the table, and the wreath of scarlet camellias that swung down to meet them from the green bronze chandelier, began to dance a saraband.

From Infelice by Evans, Augusta J. (Augusta Jane)