quadrille

1 of 2

noun

qua·​drille kwä-ˈdril 

kwə-,

kə-

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

quadrille

2 of 2

adjective

: marked with squares or rectangles

Did you know?

The quadrille, named for its four couples that form the sides of a square, seems to have begun as a French country dance. In the 18th century it became fashionable among the French nobility; as performed by elegantly dressed aristocrats, it became slow and formal. It crossed over to England and from there to New England, where it turned back into a dance for the common people. It soon evolved into the American square dance, a lively type of dance that employs a "caller" to make sure everyone remembers the steps.

Examples of quadrille in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

There's no matchmaking or ribbon clutching (the ribbon on Jane's dress!), and no one dances a quadrille but whatever. —Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 27 Sep. 2023

As Marsalis learned, Johnson had more than 200 compositions published, including cotillions, quadrilles, waltzes, reels, operatic airs, military marches and quicksteps. —Richard Grant, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Mar. 2023

The relationships move like an eighteenth-century quadrille, at once restrained and spritely. —Michael W. Clune, Harper’s Magazine , 10 Apr. 2023

Square dancing is also derived from various traditional European dances, including the Morris Dance from England and a French dance form called the quadrille, first documented in the seventeenth century. —Shirley MacFarland, cleveland, 19 Aug. 2022

Music hall-goers quickly become enamored with the cancan, an energetic new dance style inspired by the quadrille in which dancers kicked their legs high into the air—and exposed their petticoats in the process. —Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 May 2022

Carrie, assuming she would be included, had been practicing the quadrille with her friends for weeks. —Elise Taylor, Vogue, 22 Mar. 2022

These include the long rein, the airs above the ground and the quadrille. —Sheryl Devore, chicagotribune.com, 16 June 2021

Mary, on the other hand, famously danced a quadrille at his first inauguration — with Sen. Stephen Douglas, her former boyfriend and the man Lincoln had defeated for the presidency. —Washington Post, 21 Jan. 2021

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Word History

Etymology

Noun

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

Adjective

French quadrillé

First Known Use

Noun

1726, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1856, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

quadrille

noun

qua·​drille

kwä-ˈdril,

k(w)ə-

: a square dance for four couples or music for this dance