tarantella

tarantella

English

WOTD – 23 April 2006

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian tarantella, a diminutive of Taranto, a town in southern Italy (but popularly associated with tarantola (“tarantula”), on the belief that the dance was variously a result of, or cure for, its bite).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌtɛɹənˈtɛlə/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /tæɹənˈtɛlə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛlə

Noun

tarantella (plural tarantellas)

1. A rapid dance in 6/8 time, originating in Italy, or a piece of music for such a dance.
   • 1868, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, Little Women: Or, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, (please specify |part=1 or 2), Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, OCLC 30743985:

     The set in which they found themselves was composed of English, and Amy was compelled to walk decorously through a cotillion, feeling all the while as if she could dance the tarantella with relish.

   • 1895, Bret Harte, The Devotion of Enriquez:

     "A tarantella, I presume?" blandly suggested the doctor.
     Miss Mannersley stopped, and rose carelessly from the piano. "It is a Moorish gypsy song of the fifteenth century," she said dryly.

   • 1922, Walter Lippmann, “chapter v”, in Public Opinion:

     We learn to understand why our addled minds seize so little with precision, why they are caught up and tossed about in a kind of tarantella by headlines and catch-words, why so often they cannot tell things apart or discern identity in apparent differences.

Related terms

• tarantism

Translations

rapid dance

Chinese: Mandarin: 塔朗泰拉 (Tǎlǎngtàilā), 塔蘭苔拉／塔兰苔拉 (Tǎlántáilā) Finnish: tarantella (fi) French: tarentelle (fr) f Italian: tarantella (it) Russian: тарантелла (ru) f (tarantella)

See also

• tarantula

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Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɑrɑntelːɑ/, [ˈt̪ɑrɑnˌt̪e̞lːɑ]
• Rhymes: -elːɑ
• Syllabification^(key): ta‧ran‧tel‧la

Noun

tarantella

1. Alternative form of taranteli (“tarantula wolf spider, Lycosa tarantula”).
2. (colloquial) Synonym of lintuhämähäkki.

Declension

Inflection of tarantella (Kotus type 9/kala, no gradation)
nominative		tarantella	tarantellat
genitive		tarantellan	tarantellojen
partitive		tarantellaa	tarantelloja
illative		tarantellaan	tarantelloihin
		singular	plural
nominative		tarantella	tarantellat
accusative	nom.	tarantella	tarantellat
	gen.	tarantellan
genitive		tarantellan	tarantellojen tarantellainrare
partitive		tarantellaa	tarantelloja
inessive		tarantellassa	tarantelloissa
elative		tarantellasta	tarantelloista
illative		tarantellaan	tarantelloihin
adessive		tarantellalla	tarantelloilla
ablative		tarantellalta	tarantelloilta
allative		tarantellalle	tarantelloille
essive		tarantellana	tarantelloina
translative		tarantellaksi	tarantelloiksi
instructive		—	tarantelloin
abessive		tarantellatta	tarantelloitta
comitative		—	tarantelloineen

Possessive forms of tarantella (type kala)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	tarantellani	tarantellamme
2nd person	tarantellasi	tarantellanne
3rd person	tarantellansa

Etymology 2

From Italian tarantella.

Noun

tarantella

1. tarantella (rapid dance of Italian origin)

Declension

Inflection of tarantella (Kotus type 9/kala, no gradation)
nominative		tarantella	tarantellat
genitive		tarantellan	tarantellojen
partitive		tarantellaa	tarantelloja
illative		tarantellaan	tarantelloihin
		singular	plural
nominative		tarantella	tarantellat
accusative	nom.	tarantella	tarantellat
	gen.	tarantellan
genitive		tarantellan	tarantellojen tarantellainrare
partitive		tarantellaa	tarantelloja
inessive		tarantellassa	tarantelloissa
elative		tarantellasta	tarantelloista
illative		tarantellaan	tarantelloihin
adessive		tarantellalla	tarantelloilla
ablative		tarantellalta	tarantelloilta
allative		tarantellalle	tarantelloille
essive		tarantellana	tarantelloina
translative		tarantellaksi	tarantelloiksi
instructive		—	tarantelloin
abessive		tarantellatta	tarantelloitta
comitative		—	tarantelloineen

Possessive forms of tarantella (type kala)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	tarantellani	tarantellamme
2nd person	tarantellasi	tarantellanne
3rd person	tarantellansa

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Italian

Etymology

Diminutive of Taranto, a town in southern Italy (but popularly associated with tarantola (“tarantula”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ta.ranˈtɛl.la/
• Rhymes: -ɛlla
• Hyphenation: ta‧ran‧tèl‧la

Noun

tarantella f (plural tarantelle)

1. tarantella

Anagrams

• allattarne, rallentata