saraband
Americannoun
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a slow, stately Spanish dance, especially of the 17th and 18th centuries, in triple meter, derived from a vigorous castanet dance.
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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.
Etymology
Origin of saraband
1610–20; < French sarabande < Spanish zarabanda, perhaps < Arabic sarband a kind of dance < Persian
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.
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
On through the day, Lyndon and Lady Bird moved, almost ritualistically, as in a stately saraband.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
A saraband starts up, accompanied by a simulated harpsichord: Are the ghosts of vanished dancers being recalled?
From Time Magazine Archive
Going and entering, perched on the cover or fluttering round the room, for more than three hours they continued their frenzied saraband.
From Social Life in the Insect World by Miall, Bernard
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.
