contredanse
English
Etymology
From French contredanse, itself from English country dance.
Noun
contredanse (countable and uncountable, plural contredanses)
- A folk dance in which two lines of couples face each other.
- The quadrille.
- A piece of music in the rhythm of such a dance.
French
Etymology
Borrowed from English country-dance, with assimilation of first element to contre-.
Pronunciation
Noun
contredanse f (plural contredanses)
- (archaic, dance) quadrille
- 1857, Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary […][1], Paris: Michel Lévy Frères:
- Était-ce plus tard, lorsqu'il étudiait la médecine et n'avait jamais la bourse assez ronde pour payer la contredanse à quelque petite ouvrière qui fût devenue sa maîtresse?
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- fine; (parking) ticket
Descendants
- → English: contra dance, → contredanse
- → Spanish: contradanza
Further reading
- “contredanse”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012