czardas

American  

[chahr-dahsh] / ˈtʃɑr dɑʃ /

Or csardas

noun

1. a Hungarian national dance in two movements, one slow and the other fast.

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czardas British  

/ ˈtʃɑːdæʃ /

noun

1. a Hungarian national dance of alternating slow and fast sections

2. a piece of music composed for or in the rhythm of this dance

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Etymology

Origin of czardas

First recorded in 1855–60; from Hungarian csárdás, equivalent to csárda “wayside tavern” (from Serbo-Croatian čȁrdāk originally, “watchtower,” from Turkish çardak “bower, booth, pergola,” from Persian chārtāk “four-cornered room”; čār “four” + tāk “vault”) + -s adjective suffix; earlier csárdák was analyzed as csárda + -k plural suffix

Example Sentences

He is visionary and vastly entertaining; he even hoofs, far too briefly, a thrilling, thumping czardas.

From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2018

Orchester Prazevica The music of Slovak guitarist Tomas Drgon’s string combo mixes Eastern European czardas, Gypsy swing and jazz.

From Washington Post • Oct. 4, 2016

What mazurka and what czardas are more irresistible than those here?

From New York Times • Jun. 1, 2014

Audiences may be pardoned for anticipating a czardas instead of a square dance in the closing pageant, but otherwise Actress Bergner's linguistic eccentricities actually serve a useful purpose.

From Time Magazine Archive

As the czardas quickened until its pace reached the speed of a whirlwind, de Savignac suddenly staggered to his feet—his breath coming in short gasps.

From A Village of Vagabonds by Smith, F. Berkeley (Frank Berkeley)