minuet
minuet Lexical Profile
minuet Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A slow, stately ballroom dance in triple time for two people, originating in 17th-century France and popular throughout the 18th century.
"Costumed actors performed a graceful minuet in the palace ballroom."
A piece of instrumental music written in triple time and moderate tempo, either to accompany this dance or as a movement within a classical symphony, sonata, or suite.
"The third movement of the string quartet is a lively minuet."
• verb
To dance a minuet, or to move with slow, measured, graceful steps resembling a minuet.
"The couples minuetted across the polished parquet floor."
• Rhymes for minuet
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 17th century from French menuet, a diminutive of menu ('small, delicate'), from Latin minutus, referring to the short, dainty steps taken by the dancers.