roundelay

American  

[roun-dl-ey] / ˈraʊn dlˌeɪ /

noun

1. a song in which a phrase, line, or the like, is continually repeated.

2. the music for such a song.

3. a dance in a circle; round dance.

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roundelay British  

/ ˈraʊndɪˌleɪ /

noun

1. Also called: roundel.  a slow medieval dance performed in a circle

2. a song in which a line or phrase is repeated as a refrain

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Etymology

Origin of roundelay

1565–75; alteration (influenced by lay ⁴ ) of Middle French rondelet, diminutive of rondel roundel

Example Sentences

In the end we are left with Agent Cooper and Laura Palmer, seemingly locked into a never-ending roundelay of repeating trauma.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

Man, that’s an ambition worth an endless roundelay of soulless mid-level convention venues, empty hotel rooms and backseat rides in SUVs sitting next to people telling you how many points you’re down in the polls.

From Salon • Jan. 23, 2024

Kusijanovic, making her feature directing debut, plots the family’s dynamic through a roundelay of gazes and with near-geometric precision.

From New York Times • Jul. 7, 2022

Still, this loose-limbed romantic roundelay — gorgeously filmed in black and white by the French director Jacques Audiard — glows with a spirit of playful, limitless possibility.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2022

But they do know: and for them it is to chant broken-hearted the refrain of his own roundelay,     My love is dead,     Gone to his death bed All under the willow tree.

From English Lands Letters and Kings Queen Anne and the Georges by Mitchell, Donald G.