quadrille

¹qua·drille

noun \kwä-ˈdril, kwə-, kə-\

Definition of QUADRILLE

1

: a four-handed variant of ombre popular especially in the 18th century

2

: a square dance for four couples made up of five or six figures chiefly in ⁶⁄₈ and ²⁄₄ time; also : music for this dance

Origin of QUADRILLE

French, group of knights engaged in a carousel, from Spanish cuadrilla troop, from diminutive of cuadra square, from Latin quadra, quadrum

First Known Use: 1726

Rhymes with QUADRILLE

anthill, at will, backfill, ball mill, bluegill, Brazil, breast drill, cranesbill, crossbill, de Mille, dentil, de-skill, distill, doorsill, downhill, duckbill, dullsville, dunghill, fire drill, foothill, freewill, free will, gin mill, goodwill, gristmill, handbill, hawksbill, hornbill, Huntsville, ill will, instill, Knoxville, lambkill, landfill, limekiln, manille, McGill, Melville, mixed grill, molehill, mudsill, Nashville, no-till, pep pill, per mill, playbill, pot still, pug mill, red squill, refill, roadkill, sawmill, Schuylkill, self-will, Seville, sheathbill, shoebill, show bill, sidehill, sigil, spadille, spoonbill, stabile, standstill, stock-still, storksbill, T-bill, treadmill, true bill, twin bill, twist drill, until, uphill, vaudeville, waxbill, waybill, windchill, windmill, Zangwill

²quadrille

adjective

Definition of QUADRILLE

: marked with squares or rectangles

Origin of QUADRILLE

French quadrillé

First Known Use: 1856

quadrille

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Dance for four couples in square formation, fashionable from the late 18th through the 19th century. Imported to England from Parisian ballrooms in 1815, it consisted of four or five contredanses (see country dance), each danced with prescribed combinations of intertwining figures rather than depending on intricate individual steps. It was often danced to opera melodies. See also American square dance.