dance

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /dɑːns/, US /dæns/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English dauncen,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French dancier (modern danser),^[3][4] of unknown origin.^[3][5][6] One suggestion is Frankish *dintjan, compare Middle Dutch deinsen “to shrink back” and Old Frisian dintje “to tremble”,^[4][3] on the theory that the Latin word for dancing was lost in France because of a church ban on dancing;^[4] another is Vulgar Latin *deantiāre, from Late Latin deante “in front of”.^[4][2] The noun is from Old French dance, from the verb.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To move the body rhythmically to music: about 1300,^[3][7] probably before 1300 in Kyng Alisaunder, where the noun daunce also appears.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Through French influence in the arts and in society, the word became the main word for this activity from Spain to Russia (Spanish danzar, German tanzen, Russian tancevat'),^[3] often for fashionable dancing beside an older native word for folk dancing.^[3] In English it replaced Old English sealtian, a borrowing of Latin saltāre “to dance”, as well as tumbian and hoppian.^[3] To leap or spring as an expression of emotion is from the late 14th century,^[3] a dancing party from about 1385,^[7] and a tune for dancing from the late 14th century.^[3] In Middle English the olde daunce was “the whole business”, and the daunce is don meant much what “the jig is up” means now.^[3] To lead someone a dance is from the 1520s.^[3][7] The dance of death, a medieval image of Death leading people of every rank to the grave, is from about 1430.^[7][8] Dance attendance, from the early 16th century, described someone kept waiting in an antechamber, fidgeting as if dancing.^[8] Dancer is from 1440, and earlier as the surname Dancere (1130).^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – verb and noun.^[3][4]
• c. 1385 – a dancing party.^[7]
• late 14th century – a tune to dance to.^[3]
• c. 1430 – the dance of death.^[7]
• 1440 – dancer.^[4]
• 1520s – to lead someone a dance.^[3]
• 1823 – dance-hall.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To move the body in time to music, with set or improvised steps.
2. To perform (a particular dance).
3. To leap or skip about excitedly.
4. To move quickly up and down or flicker: the light danced on the water.

Noun

1. A series of steps and movements performed to music.
2. A social gathering or party for dancing.
3. A piece of music for dancing.
4. The art of dancing: she studied dance.

Word family

• dancer
• dancingly
• danceable
• outdance
• undancing
• line dance

Related words

• dancing

Usage notes

In Irish and Midland dialect to dance upon nothing or in the air was to be hanged.^[9]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)