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minuets

- 2 dictionary results

min⋅u⋅et

  [min-yoo-et]
Use minuets in a Sentence
–noun
1. a slow, stately dance in triple meter, popular in the 17th and 18th centuries.
2. a piece of music for such a dance or in its rhythm.
Origin:
1665–75; < F menuet, equiv. to menu small (see menu ) + -et -et; so called from the shortness of the dancers' steps
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To minuets
min·u·et   (mĭn'yōō-ět')   
n.  
  1. A slow, stately pattern dance in 3/4 time for groups of couples, originating in 17th-century France.
  2. The music for or in the rhythm of the minuet.
  3. A movement in 3/4 time that is usually the third, but sometimes the second, of a four-movement symphony or string quartet.

[French menuet, from Old French, small, dainty (from the small steps characteristic of the dance), diminutive of menu, small, from Latin minūtus; see minute2.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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