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vaudeville

Etymology and origin of the English word vaudeville

History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈvɔ.d(ə).vɪl/, /ˈvəʊd.vɪl/ (UK); /ˈvɔː.d(ə)ˌvɪl/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French vaudeville,[2][3][4][5][6] an alteration, influenced by ville “town”,[3][4] of Middle French vaudevire (“popular satirical song”).[2][3][5] This is possibly short for chanson du Vau de Vire “song of the valley of Vire”, in Normandy,[2][3][4][5][6] a name first given to the songs of the 15th-century poet Olivier Basselin of Vire;[3][4] alternatively it may come from dialectal vauder “to go” and virer “to turn”.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A light popular song, often satirical or topical, especially one sung on the stage.[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

From the popularity of such songs in France grew a kind of theatre made of light comic pieces, often parodies, interspersed with songs,[4] recorded in English from 1827.[3][7][5] The word later came to mean a stage show of many short acts by comedians, singers, dancers, acrobats and the like.[2][5][6]

Timeline

  • 1735 – a country song, by Etymonline's date;[4] the OED and Barnhart give 1739 and RHWU 1730–40.[7][3][6]
  • 1827 – a light theatrical piece with songs.[3][7][5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Stage entertainment made up of a variety of short acts by comedians, singers, dancers, acrobats and others; a variety show.
  2. A light comic theatrical piece combining dialogue, pantomime, dance and song.
  3. A popular, often satirical song.

Word family

  • vaudevillian

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Vaudeville.” Etymologically, 8 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/vaudeville. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on .