variants
or less commonly pavan
1
: a court dance by couples that was popular in Europe in the 16th century
2
: music for the pavane
also
: music having the slow duple rhythm of a pavane
Examples of pavane in a Sentence
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The second movement, processional and severe, is a pavane, not a dirge; this music needs motion, and Bach Collegium imbued this most famous of the symphony’s movements with a sense of solemn dance lost at a slower tempo.
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Luke Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 May 2022
Still, there is that perfectly shaped pearl of a pavane that, throughout it all, stays in the memory.
—Los Angeles Times, 9 Jan. 2022
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Luke Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 May 2022
Still, there is that perfectly shaped pearl of a pavane that, throughout it all, stays in the memory.
—Los Angeles Times, 9 Jan. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Pavane.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pavane. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.
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