dance

English Online Dictionary. What means dance‎? What does dance mean?

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɑːns/
  • (Received Pronunciation, Cockney, Estuary, Jamaica) IPA^(key): [dɑːns]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /dæn(t)s/
  • (æ-tensing) IPA^(key): [dɛənts], [deənts]
  • (Northern England, Ireland) IPA^(key): [dæns], [dans], [däns]
  • (General Australian) IPA^(key): [dæːns]
  • (Cultivated Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): [däːns], [dɐːns]
  • (Indian English) IPA^(key): [ɖɑːns]
• Rhymes: -ɑːns, -æns, -ænts

Etymology 1

From Middle English dauncen, daunsen, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman dauncer, dancer (“to dance”) (compare Old French dancier), from Frankish *þansōn (“to draw, pull, stretch out, gesture”) (compare Old High German dansōn (“to draw, pull”)), from Proto-West Germanic *þansōn, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tens- (“to stretch, pull”). Replaced Old English sealtian (“to dance”) borrowed from Latin saltāre (“to leap, dance”). More at thin.

Alternative forms

• daunce (obsolete)

Noun

dance (countable and uncountable, plural dances)

1. A sequence of rhythmic steps or movements usually performed to music, for pleasure or as a form of social interaction.
2. A social gathering where dancing is the main activity.
3. (uncountable) The art, profession, and study of dancing.
4. (uncountable) A genre of modern music characterised by sampled beats, repetitive rhythms and few lyrics.
5. A piece of music with a particular dance rhythm.
6. (figurative) A battle of wits, especially one commonly fought between two rivals.

   So how much longer are we gonna do this dance?

7. (figurative, dated) Any strenuous or difficult movement, action, or task.
8. (apiology) A repetitive movement used in communication between worker honey bees.

Hyponyms

• See also Thesaurus:dance

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

dance (third-person singular simple present dances, present participle dancing, simple past and past participle danced)

1. (intransitive) To move with rhythmic steps or movements, especially in time to music.
2. (intransitive) To leap or move lightly and rapidly.
3. (transitive) To perform the steps to.

4. (transitive) To cause to dance, or move nimbly or merrily about.
5. (figurative, euphemistic) To make love or have sex.

6. (apiology, of a worker honey bee) To make a repetitive movement in order to communicate to other worker honey bees.
7. (figurative, euphemistic) To kick and convulse from the effects of being hanged.

Synonyms

• (move with rhythmic steps or movements): throw shapes
• (to engage in sexual intercourse): do the deed, get some, have sex; see also Thesaurus:copulate

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Arabic: دانس (dāns)
• → Scottish Gaelic: danns
• → Zulu: dansa

Translations

See also

• Appendix:Dances

Etymology 2

Related to dancy, dancetté, French danché.

Noun

dance (plural dances)

1. (heraldry) A normally horizontal stripe called a fess that has been modified to zig-zag across the center of a coat of arms from dexter to sinister.

References

Further reading

• Dance on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• dance on Wikibooks.Wikibooks

Anagrams

• Caden, Decan, acned, caned, decan

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English dance. Doublet of danse.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛns/

Noun

dance f (uncountable)

1. dance music

Galician

Verb

dance

1. inflection of danzar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French dance.

Noun

dance f (plural dances)

1. dance

Descendants

• French: danse

Old French

Etymology

From the verb dancier; see English dance, French danse.

Noun

dance oblique singular, f (oblique plural dances, nominative singular dance, nominative plural dances)

1. dance

Portuguese

Verb

dance

1. inflection of dançar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

References

• “dance” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.
• “dance” in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2024.

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /ˈdanθe/ [ˈd̪ãn̟.θe]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /ˈdanse/ [ˈd̪ãn.se]
• (Spain) Rhymes: -anθe
• (Latin America) Rhymes: -anse
• Syllabification: dan‧ce

Verb

dance

1. inflection of danzar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative