pirouette

→ Catalan: pirueta

→ Dutch: pirouette

→ English: pirouette

→ German: Pirouette

→ Italian: piroetta

→ Polish: piruet

→ Russian: пируэ́т (piruét)

From a Gallo-Roman root *pir- („peg, plug“, hence Italian piruolo (“peg top”)) and -ette (diminutive suffix). The word originally meant a “spinning top” (15th century).

a whirling or turning on the toes in dancing


twister

twister (infinitive)
avoir + past participle (infinitive multiword-construction)
twistant (gerund participle present)
ayant + past participle (gerund multiword-construction participle present)
twisté (participle past)
twiste (first-person indicative present singular)
twistes (indicative present second-person singular)
twiste (indicative present singular third-person)
twistons (first-person indicative plural present)
twistez (indicative plural present second-person)
twistent (indicative plural present third-person)
twistais (first-person imperfect indicative singular)
twistais (imperfect indicative second-person singular)
twistait (imperfect indicative singular third-person)
twistions (first-person imperfect indicative plural)
twistiez (imperfect indicative plural second-person)
twistaient (imperfect indicative plural third-person)
twistai (first-person historic indicative past singular)
twistas (historic indicative past second-person singular)
twista (historic indicative past singular third-person)
twistâmes (first-person historic indicative past plural)
twistâtes (historic indicative past plural second-person)
twistèrent (historic indicative past plural third-person)
twisterai (first-person future indicative singular)
twisteras (future indicative second-person singular)
twistera (future indicative singular third-person)
twisterons (first-person future indicative plural)
twisterez (future indicative plural second-person)
twisteront (future indicative plural third-person)
twisterais (conditional first-person singular)
twisterais (conditional second-person singular)
twisterait (conditional singular third-person)
twisterions (conditional first-person plural)
twisteriez (conditional plural second-person)
twisteraient (conditional plural third-person)
future of avoir + past participle (future indicative multiword-construction perfect)
conditional of avoir + past participle (conditional multiword-construction perfect)
twiste (first-person present singular subjunctive)
twistes (present second-person singular subjunctive)
twiste (present singular subjunctive third-person)
twistions (first-person plural present subjunctive)
twistiez (plural present second-person subjunctive)
twistent (plural present subjunctive third-person)
twistasse (first-person imperfect singular subjunctive)
twistasses (imperfect second-person singular subjunctive)
twistât (imperfect singular subjunctive third-person)
twistassions (first-person imperfect plural subjunctive)
twistassiez (imperfect plural second-person subjunctive)
twistassent (imperfect plural subjunctive third-person)
twiste (imperative second-person singular)
twistons (first-person imperative plural)
twistez (imperative plural second-person)


danse

→ Danish: dans

→ Italian: danza

→ Romanian: dans

→ Turkish: dans

From danser (“to dance”). Doublet of dance.


rumba

Borrowed from Spanish, from rumbo (“route”).


tango

Turkish: tango


polka

→ Ottoman Turkish: پولقه (polka)

Turkish: polka


smurf

1983: after the English name of The Smurfs, via Dutch smurf from French schtroumpf. See above.


java

On vous corne dans les oreilles / Que les javas sont toutes pareilles / Et ben ceux qui disent ça / C’est qu’ils connaissent pas / Cézigue et sa java. Hop !

1936, “La java de Cézigue”, performed by Edith Piaf:

(dance) a popular dance developed in 1920s Paris


ballerine

fr-noun

ballerine f (plural ballerines, masculine ballerin)

ballerines (plural)
ballerin (masculine)


ballet

desctree

→ Dutch: ballet
→ Indonesian: balèt
→ Papiamentu: balèt

→ English: ballet

→ Persian: باله (bâle)

desc

→ Portuguese: balé, balê, ballet (unadapted form)

→ Swedish: balett

→ Thai: บัลเลต์ (ban-lêe)

→ Turkish: bale

→ Vietnamese: ba lê


allemande

→ English: allemande


chasser

chasser (infinitive)
avoir + past participle (infinitive multiword-construction)
chassant (gerund participle present)
ayant + past participle (gerund multiword-construction participle present)
chassé (participle past)
chasse (first-person indicative present singular)
chasses (indicative present second-person singular)
chasse (indicative present singular third-person)
chassons (first-person indicative plural present)
chassez (indicative plural present second-person)
chassent (indicative plural present third-person)
chassais (first-person imperfect indicative singular)
chassais (imperfect indicative second-person singular)
chassait (imperfect indicative singular third-person)
chassions (first-person imperfect indicative plural)
chassiez (imperfect indicative plural second-person)
chassaient (imperfect indicative plural third-person)
chassai (first-person historic indicative past singular)
chassas (historic indicative past second-person singular)
chassa (historic indicative past singular third-person)
chassâmes (first-person historic indicative past plural)
chassâtes (historic indicative past plural second-person)
chassèrent (historic indicative past plural third-person)
chasserai (first-person future indicative singular)
chasseras (future indicative second-person singular)
chassera (future indicative singular third-person)
chasserons (first-person future indicative plural)
chasserez (future indicative plural second-person)
chasseront (future indicative plural third-person)
chasserais (conditional first-person singular)
chasserais (conditional second-person singular)
chasserait (conditional singular third-person)
chasserions (conditional first-person plural)
chasseriez (conditional plural second-person)
chasseraient (conditional plural third-person)
future of avoir + past participle (future indicative multiword-construction perfect)
conditional of avoir + past participle (conditional multiword-construction perfect)
chasse (first-person present singular subjunctive)
chasses (present second-person singular subjunctive)
chasse (present singular subjunctive third-person)
chassions (first-person plural present subjunctive)
chassiez (plural present second-person subjunctive)
chassent (plural present subjunctive third-person)
chassasse (first-person imperfect singular subjunctive)
chassasses (imperfect second-person singular subjunctive)
chassât (imperfect singular subjunctive third-person)
chassassions (first-person imperfect plural subjunctive)
chassassiez (imperfect plural second-person subjunctive)
chassassent (imperfect plural subjunctive third-person)
chasse (imperative second-person singular)
chassons (first-person imperative plural)
chassez (imperative plural second-person)

→ German: schassen

Inherited from Old French chacier, from Vulgar Latin *captiāre, from Latin captus.


cotillon

English: cotillon, cotillion

From cotte (“dress”) + -illon (“diminutive”) + (alt. -ille + -on).


paso doble

fr-noun

paso doble m (plural paso dobles or pasos dobles)

paso dobles (plural)
pasos dobles (plural)

Borrowed from Spanish pasodoble, from paso (“step”) + doble (“double”).


ronde

(dance) a traditional dance where the dancers form a ring and move laterally with the music


batterie

→ Catalan: bateria

desctree

→ Danish: batteri
→ Greenlandic: batteri

→ Dutch: batterij (see there for further descendants)

→ English: batterie

→ Galician: batería

→ German: Batterie

→ Polish: bateria

→ Portuguese: bateria

→ Romanian: baterie

→ Spanish: batería

→ Swedish: batteri

→ Persian: باطری (bâtri)

→ Turkish: bateri

From Old French baterie, from batre (“to hit”).


valse

→ Arabic: فَالْس (fāls)

→ English: valse

→ Greek: βαλς (vals)

→ Manx: valse

→ Ottoman Turkish: والس (vals)

Turkish: vals

→ Persian: والس (vâls)

→ Portuguese: valsa

→ Romanian: vals

→ Russian: вальс (valʹs) (see there for further descendants)

→ Ukrainian: вальс (valʹs)


cancan

Supposedly, this word originates with a dispute at the Collège de France circa 1550, over whether to use a traditional French pronunciation of Latin or a reconstructed pronunciation of Latin. One of the points of most dispute was the pronunciation of qu, with the word quamquam exemplifying this: it was pronounced in reconstructed Latin as [ˈkʷam.kʷã(m)] but pronounced in French Latin as /kɑ̃.kɑ̃/ ("cancan"). After this debacle, a "cancan" came to be "any kind of scandalous performance".


courante

→ English: courante

→ Russian: кура́нты pl (kuránty)


danseur

fr-noun

danseur m (plural danseurs, feminine danseuse)


pavane

desctree

→ English: pavane, pavan, paven, pavian, pavin, pavonne
→ Welsh: pafán

Borrowed from dialectal Italian pavana, contraction of padovana, feminine of padovano, meaning from the city of Padua (Italian Padova, dialectal form Pava).


gigue

→ English: gigue

From Old French gige, gigue (“a fiddle, kind of dance”), from Frankish *gīge (“dance, fiddle”), from Proto-Germanic *gīganą (“to move, wish, desire”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeyǵʰ-, *gʰeygʰ- (“to yawn, gape, long for, desire”). More at gig, geg, jig.

uder

(dance) lively and gay dance originary from the British Isles, gigue, jig


carmagnole

→ Albanian: karamanjollë (“guillotine”)

→ English: carmagnole

desc

→ Greek: καρμανιόλα (karmanióla, “guillotine”)

Named after Carmagnole, the northwestern Italian town of Carmagnola.

(historical) carmagnole (lively song and street dance)


contredanse

→ English: contra dance, → contredanse

→ Spanish: contradanza

Borrowed from English country-dance, with assimilation of first element to contre-.


valse viennoise

fr-noun

valse viennoise f (plural valses viennoises)


tango argentin

tango argentin m (plural tangos argentins)


danse du ventre

danse du ventre f (plural danses du ventre)

The phrase danse du ventre is first attested in 1864 as a nickname apparently given by the French press to the Orientalist painting La danse de l'almée (The Dance of the Almeh) by Jean-Léon Gérôme. The term enters the English language by 1883, "The Russian gypsy dance has little of the provocatively voluptuous character of the Granada Ole, but there must be some connection in the history of dancing between the danse du Ventre of the Almee and the fluttering spasms of the Moscow Tzigane", and other European languages over the course of the 1880s.


affûter

affûter (infinitive)
avoir + past participle (infinitive multiword-construction)
affûtant (gerund participle present)
ayant + past participle (gerund multiword-construction participle present)
affûté (participle past)
affûte (first-person indicative present singular)
affûtes (indicative present second-person singular)
affûte (indicative present singular third-person)
affûtons (first-person indicative plural present)
affûtez (indicative plural present second-person)
affûtent (indicative plural present third-person)
affûtais (first-person imperfect indicative singular)
affûtais (imperfect indicative second-person singular)
affûtait (imperfect indicative singular third-person)
affûtions (first-person imperfect indicative plural)
affûtiez (imperfect indicative plural second-person)
affûtaient (imperfect indicative plural third-person)
affûtai (first-person historic indicative past singular)
affûtas (historic indicative past second-person singular)
affûta (historic indicative past singular third-person)
affûtâmes (first-person historic indicative past plural)
affûtâtes (historic indicative past plural second-person)
affûtèrent (historic indicative past plural third-person)
affûterai (first-person future indicative singular)
affûteras (future indicative second-person singular)
affûtera (future indicative singular third-person)
affûterons (first-person future indicative plural)
affûterez (future indicative plural second-person)
affûteront (future indicative plural third-person)
affûterais (conditional first-person singular)
affûterais (conditional second-person singular)
affûterait (conditional singular third-person)
affûterions (conditional first-person plural)
affûteriez (conditional plural second-person)
affûteraient (conditional plural third-person)
future of avoir + past participle (future indicative multiword-construction perfect)
conditional of avoir + past participle (conditional multiword-construction perfect)
affûte (first-person present singular subjunctive)
affûtes (present second-person singular subjunctive)
affûte (present singular subjunctive third-person)
affûtions (first-person plural present subjunctive)
affûtiez (plural present second-person subjunctive)
affûtent (plural present subjunctive third-person)
affûtasse (first-person imperfect singular subjunctive)
affûtasses (imperfect second-person singular subjunctive)
affûtât (imperfect singular subjunctive third-person)
affûtassions (first-person imperfect plural subjunctive)
affûtassiez (imperfect plural second-person subjunctive)
affûtassent (imperfect plural subjunctive third-person)
affûte (imperative second-person singular)
affûtons (first-person imperative plural)
affûtez (imperative plural second-person)

Inherited from Old French afuster. Equivalent to a- + fût + -er.


enchaînement

/ɑ̃.ʃɛn.mɑ̃/


entrechat

→ English: entrechat

From Italian intrecciato, past participle of intrecciare.


valser

valser (infinitive)
avoir + past participle (infinitive multiword-construction)
valsant (gerund participle present)
ayant + past participle (gerund multiword-construction participle present)
valsé (participle past)
valse (first-person indicative present singular)
valses (indicative present second-person singular)
valse (indicative present singular third-person)
valsons (first-person indicative plural present)
valsez (indicative plural present second-person)
valsent (indicative plural present third-person)
valsais (first-person imperfect indicative singular)
valsais (imperfect indicative second-person singular)
valsait (imperfect indicative singular third-person)
valsions (first-person imperfect indicative plural)
valsiez (imperfect indicative plural second-person)
valsaient (imperfect indicative plural third-person)
valsai (first-person historic indicative past singular)
valsas (historic indicative past second-person singular)
valsa (historic indicative past singular third-person)
valsâmes (first-person historic indicative past plural)
valsâtes (historic indicative past plural second-person)
valsèrent (historic indicative past plural third-person)
valserai (first-person future indicative singular)
valseras (future indicative second-person singular)
valsera (future indicative singular third-person)
valserons (first-person future indicative plural)
valserez (future indicative plural second-person)
valseront (future indicative plural third-person)
valserais (conditional first-person singular)
valserais (conditional second-person singular)
valserait (conditional singular third-person)
valserions (conditional first-person plural)
valseriez (conditional plural second-person)
valseraient (conditional plural third-person)
future of avoir + past participle (future indicative multiword-construction perfect)
conditional of avoir + past participle (conditional multiword-construction perfect)
valse (first-person present singular subjunctive)
valses (present second-person singular subjunctive)
valse (present singular subjunctive third-person)
valsions (first-person plural present subjunctive)
valsiez (plural present second-person subjunctive)
valsent (plural present subjunctive third-person)
valsasse (first-person imperfect singular subjunctive)
valsasses (imperfect second-person singular subjunctive)
valsât (imperfect singular subjunctive third-person)
valsassions (first-person imperfect plural subjunctive)
valsassiez (imperfect plural second-person subjunctive)
valsassent (imperfect plural subjunctive third-person)
valse (imperative second-person singular)
valsons (first-person imperative plural)
valsez (imperative plural second-person)


boléro

(countable and uncountable) bolero (dance)


déhanché

(gymnastics, dance) movement of the hips and legs


kazatchok

kazatchok m (countable and uncountable, plural kazatchoks)

Borrowed from Russian казачо́к (kazačók), diminutive of каза́к (kazák, “Cossack”).

bor+

kozachok (Ukrainian and Russian couple-dance style)


bamboula

→ German: Bambule


estampie

→ English: estampie


ballet-féerie

fr-noun

ballet-féerie m (plural ballets-féeries)

desc

балет-феерия

→ Russian: балет-феерия (balet-fejerija)


rond de jambe

→ English: rond de jambe

→ Korean: 롱 드 장브 (rong deu jangbeu)

рон-де-жа́мб

→ Russian: рон-де-жа́мб (ron-dɛ-žámb)

/ʁɔ̃ d(ə) ʒɑ̃b/


demi-caractère

→ English: demi-caractère

→ English: demicharacter (calque)

demi- (“demi-”) + caractère (“character”)

af

D’ailleurs porterez-vous Carmen à l’Opéra, sans reconnaître que tout l’en éloigne, ses proportions et son style, même quand il s’élève le plus ? Tous les chefs-d’œuvres ne sont pas de la même taille, et Carmen serait trop au large dans le cadre de Guillaume Tell ou des Huguenots. Voyons donc l’opéra comique de Bizet tel qu’il est : œuvre de demi-caractère et de juste milieu, faite à la mesure et pour la gloire du théâtre où elle est née.

1886, Camille Bellaigue, “Un siècle de musique française”, in Revue des deux mondes, page 193:

By the way, would you take [Bizet's opera] Carmen to the [Paris] Opera, without acknowledging that everything keeps it away from it, its proportions and its style, even when it elevates itself the most? All masterworks are not of the same size, and Carmen would be too much at large in the frame of Guillaume Tell or of Les Huguenots. Let us look at Bizet's comic opera as it is: a work of demi-caractère and just middle, made to the measure and for the glory of [the Opéra-Comique] where it was born.


chassé-croisé

fr-noun

chassé-croisé m (plural chassés-croisés)


mazurker

mazurker (infinitive)
avoir + past participle (infinitive multiword-construction)
mazurkant (gerund participle present)
ayant + past participle (gerund multiword-construction participle present)
mazurké (participle past)
mazurke (first-person indicative present singular)
mazurkes (indicative present second-person singular)
mazurke (indicative present singular third-person)
mazurkons (first-person indicative plural present)
mazurkez (indicative plural present second-person)
mazurkent (indicative plural present third-person)
mazurkais (first-person imperfect indicative singular)
mazurkais (imperfect indicative second-person singular)
mazurkait (imperfect indicative singular third-person)
mazurkions (first-person imperfect indicative plural)
mazurkiez (imperfect indicative plural second-person)
mazurkaient (imperfect indicative plural third-person)
mazurkai (first-person historic indicative past singular)
mazurkas (historic indicative past second-person singular)
mazurka (historic indicative past singular third-person)
mazurkâmes (first-person historic indicative past plural)
mazurkâtes (historic indicative past plural second-person)
mazurkèrent (historic indicative past plural third-person)
mazurkerai (first-person future indicative singular)
mazurkeras (future indicative second-person singular)
mazurkera (future indicative singular third-person)
mazurkerons (first-person future indicative plural)
mazurkerez (future indicative plural second-person)
mazurkeront (future indicative plural third-person)
mazurkerais (conditional first-person singular)
mazurkerais (conditional second-person singular)
mazurkerait (conditional singular third-person)
mazurkerions (conditional first-person plural)
mazurkeriez (conditional plural second-person)
mazurkeraient (conditional plural third-person)
future of avoir + past participle (future indicative multiword-construction perfect)
conditional of avoir + past participle (conditional multiword-construction perfect)
mazurke (first-person present singular subjunctive)
mazurkes (present second-person singular subjunctive)
mazurke (present singular subjunctive third-person)
mazurkions (first-person plural present subjunctive)
mazurkiez (plural present second-person subjunctive)
mazurkent (plural present subjunctive third-person)
mazurkasse (first-person imperfect singular subjunctive)
mazurkasses (imperfect second-person singular subjunctive)
mazurkât (imperfect singular subjunctive third-person)
mazurkassions (first-person imperfect plural subjunctive)
mazurkassiez (imperfect plural second-person subjunctive)
mazurkassent (imperfect plural subjunctive third-person)
mazurke (imperative second-person singular)
mazurkons (first-person imperative plural)
mazurkez (imperative plural second-person)