tarantella English · revision 1166

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˌtæɹənˈtɛlə/ ''(UK)''; /ˌtɛɹənˈtɛlə/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|it|tarantella]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''Taranto'', a city in southern Italy,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) Latin ''Tarentum'', from Greek ''Tárās''.^(Barnhart 1995) In folklore the dance was linked with the bite of the [[tarantula]], also named from Taranto,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) and was thought to cure [[tarantism]], an urge to dance feverishly;^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(RHWU) Etymonline calls this connection folk etymology.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A rapid, whirling dance of the peasants of southern Italy (1782).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The OED notes that the dance had been popular since the 15th century, when it was supposed to cure tarantism,^(OED 1989) which was epidemic in Apulia from the 15th to the 17th century.^(Etymonline) The music for the dance, now always in 6/8 time with whirling triplets, has been called a tarantella since 1833.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1630s – ''tarantism'', the dancing mania.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1782 – the dance.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1833 – music for the dance.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A lively, whirling folk [[dance]] of southern Italy, once thought to cure [[tarantism]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The music for this dance, in 6/8 time.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tarantism]]

+ * [[tarantula]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}