tarantella

American  

[tar-uhn-tel-uh] / ˌtær ənˈtɛl ə /

noun

1. a rapid, whirling southern Italian dance in very quick sextuple, originally quadruple, meter, usually performed by a single couple, and formerly supposed to be a remedy for tarantism.

2. a piece of music either for the dance or in its rhythm.

---

tarantella British  

/ ˌtærənˈtɛlə /

noun

1. a peasant dance from S Italy

2. a piece of music composed for or in the rhythm of this dance, in fast six-eight time

---

Etymology

Origin of tarantella

1775–85; < Italian, equivalent to Tarant ( o ) Taranto + -ella -elle

Example Sentences

Alarms ding every couple of minutes, accentuating the insanity of Donna's frenetic tarantella between her wine glass, a blazing stove, and a countertop stacked with pots and pans in use or used up.

From Salon • Jun. 29, 2023

That couldn’t last forever, though: At the coda of that tarantella finale, here impressively cohesive amid increasingly frantic chorales and unstable runs, Death arrives in a sudden minor-key turn, delivered in grandly Romantic fashion.

From New York Times • Apr. 22, 2022

Then I realized such a pose had been used by John Singer Sargent, of a woman dancing the tarantella in his moody masterpiece “El Jaleo.”

From Washington Post • Jun. 26, 2020

Around him, the kitchen was a tarantella of activity: Four cooks grilled racks of lamb, another rinsed lettuce and yet another arranged grilled vegetables on a platter.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 24, 2018

What began as a dramatically delusory ploy to recapture her father’s attention turned into a sad tarantella of girlish desperation.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy