1
: a native or inhabitant of Bergamo, Italy
In 1584 he was apprenticed for 4 years to Simone Peterzano, a Bergamasque who claimed to have been a pupil of Titian.—
Peter and Linda Murray, A Dictionary of Art and Artists, 1959
2
: the Italian dialect of Bergamo
Calmo's comedies are unique in that he utilized a variety of dialects and languages (Venetian, Bergamasque … German, Turkish, and a Greek-Venetian dialect) to create farcical plots …—Suzanne Magnanini, in Monsters in the Italian Literary Imagination, 2001 … Puss himself elegantly lubricates his virile, muscular, native Bergamasque with French, since this is the only language in which you can purr.—Angela Carter, The Greatest Cat Stories Ever Told, 2001
3
bergamasque
or less commonly Bergamask
or Bergomask
: a folk dance of the Bergamo region of northern Italy popular mainly in the sixteenth century
The final bergamasque is performed to the pulsating throb of Japanese drums.—Jeff Bradley, Denver Post (Colorado), 23 July 1997 The most memorable event at the play's end isn't the courtly bergamasque or the marriage song; instead it is an affirmation of chaos, it is a tale told by an idiot, by a whole gang of idiots.—Daniel Albright, Musicking Shakespeare: A Conflict of Theatres, 2007 … the second theme … is repeated immediately, with richer orchestration, and is followed by a swelling transition that leads to a so-called Bergamasque Dance (the word suggests the clownish manners reputedly characteristic of the peasants of Bergamo).—Donald N. Ferguson, Masterworks of the Orchestral Repertoire, 1968 … it is an inspired idea to have the Bergomask danced with a manic energy that positively compels the courtiers' participation.—Michael Billington, The Guardian (London), 20 Aug. 1988
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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