quadrille
See also: quadrillé
English
![](Images/wiktionary/The_First_Quadrille_at_Almack's.jpg.webp)
Two couples doing a quadrille
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kwɒdˈɹɪl/
- Rhymes: -ɪl
Etymology 1
French, in sense of “group of knights”, from Spanish cuadrilla, diminutive of cuadra (“square”) (compare also cuadra (“four”)), from Latin quadra.[1]
Noun
quadrille (plural quadrilles)
- A dance originating in the mid-1700s with four couples forming a square, rather much like the modern square dance.
- 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, part 2:
- The movements of the other women were more or less similar to Tess's, the whole bevy of them drawing together like dancers in a quadrille at the completion of a sheaf by each, every one placing her sheaf on end against those of the rest, till a shock, or 'stitch' as it was here called, of ten or a dozen was formed.
-
- The music for this dance.
- c. 19th century, J. M. Crofts (attributed), "The Irish Rover"
- There was ol' Mickey Coote
- Who played hard on his flute
- When the ladies lined up for a set
- He was tootin' with skill
- For each sparkling quadrille
- Though the dancers were fluther'd and bet
- c. 19th century, J. M. Crofts (attributed), "The Irish Rover"
- (card games) A Spanish trick-taking card game from the 1700s played with a 40-card deck.
- 1812, Jane Austen, chapter 17, in Pride and Prejudice:
- It now first struck her that she was selected from among her sisters as worthy of being the mistress of Hunsford Parsonage, and of assisting to form a quadrille table at Rosings, in the absence of more eligible visitors.
-
- A choreographed dressage ride, commonly performed to music, with a minimum of four horses.
Translations
dance
|
Verb
quadrille (third-person singular simple present quadrilles, present participle quadrilling, simple past and past participle quadrilled)
- (intransitive) To dance the quadrille.
- 1834, Arthur Courtenay, Autobiography and Letters of Arthur Courtenay (page 36)
- We quadrilled, waltzed, and conversed, in all of which my clever partner excelled; and her charms, combined with the excellent champagne I imbibed, fairly dazzled my imagination.
- 1834, Arthur Courtenay, Autobiography and Letters of Arthur Courtenay (page 36)
Etymology 2
From French quadrillé.
Noun
quadrille (plural quadrilles)
- Quadrille ruled graph paper, quad paper.
Derived terms
- quadrille paper
Etymology 3
Term used by John Horton Conway.
Noun
- A square tiling of the plane.
Related terms
- quad
- quadrella
References
- “quadrille”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ka.dʁij/
Audio (Paris) (file)
Noun
quadrille m or f (plural quadrilles)
- (bullfighting) cuadrilla
Verb
quadrille
- inflection of quadriller:
- first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
- second-person singular imperative
Further reading
- “quadrille”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.