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vaudeville

 - 4 dictionary results

vaude⋅ville

  [vawd-vil, vohd-, vaw-duh-]
Use vaudeville in a Sentence
–noun
1. theatrical entertainment consisting of a number of individual performances, acts, or mixed numbers, as by comedians, singers, dancers, acrobats, and magicians. Compare variety (def. 9).
2. a theatrical piece of light or amusing character, interspersed with songs and dances.
3. a satirical cabaret song.
Origin:
1730–40; < F, shortened alter. of MF chanson du vau de Vire song of the vale1 of Vire, a valley of Calvados, France, noted for satirical folksongs
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To vaudeville
vaude·ville   (vôd'vĭl', vōd'-, vô'də-)   
n.  

    1. Stage entertainment offering a variety of short acts such as slapstick turns, song-and-dance routines, and juggling performances.

    2. A theatrical performance of this kind; a variety show.

  2. A light comic play that often includes songs, pantomime, and dances.

  3. A popular, often satirical song.


[French, alteration of Old French vaudevire, occasional or topical light popular song, possibly short for chanson du Vau de Vire, song of Vau de Vire, a valley of northwest France, or perhaps dialectal vauder, to go + virer, to turn; see veer1.]
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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Cultural Dictionary

vaudeville [(vawd-vuhl, vaw-duh-vil)]

Light theatrical entertainment, popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, consisting of a succession of short acts. A vaudeville show usually included comedians, singers, dancers, jugglers, trained animals, magicians, and the like.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

vaudeville 
1739, "light, popular song," especially one sung on the stage, from Fr. vaudeville, alteration (by influence of ville "town") of M.Fr. vaudevire, said to be from (chanson du) Vau de Vire "(song of the) valley of Vire," in the Calvados region of Normandy, first applied to the popular satirical songs of Olivier Basselin, a 15c. poet who lived in Vire. The other alternative is that vaudevire derives from M.Fr. dialectal vauder "to go" + virer "to turn." The meaning "theatrical entertainment interspersed with songs" first recorded 1827. Vaudevillian (n.) is attested from 1913.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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