danse French · revision 17562

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=1172–1175, Chrétien de Troyes}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dɑ̃s/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''danse''' ''f'' (plural danses)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''dance''; the spelling ''danse'' from the 13th century.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a deverbal noun [[der|fr|danser|t=to dance]].^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary) The verb, Old French [[m|fro|dancier]], belongs to the north of France and spread from there to [[it|danzare]], [[es|danzar]], German and English, for elegant dances of polite society, while descendants of Latin [[m|la|ballō]] named popular dances.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) Its origin is probably Germanic but has not been found.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The Frankish [[m|frk|*dintjan]], inferred from [[nl|deinzen|t=to move to and fro]], is the explanation of Bloch and Wartburg and the FEW, but does not account for the ⟨a⟩ of all the French forms;^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(TLFi)^(FEW|15/2, 63a) a Frankish [[m|frk|*dansōn|t=to pull]], from [[goh|dansōn]], does not explain the Old French verb, a difficulty that V. Günther removed by positing an early variant [[m|frk|*dansjan]].^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) Wiktionary gives a Vulgar Latin [[m|la-vul|*dantiō]].^(Wiktionary) It is a doublet of [[en|dance]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Chrétien de Troyes uses it in ''Le Chevalier de la charrette'' (1172–1175).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By 1223 Gautier de Coinci uses it figuratively: in the ''Roman de la Rose'' the old woman ''scet toute la vielle dance'', “knows all the old tricks”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) Littré quotes ''mener la dance'' from Eustache Deschamps, and 15th-century texts use ''danses'' for battles and dangers;^(Littré 1873) the figurative ''mener la danse'', to be in charge, is recorded by Oudin in 1640.^(GLLF 1989) From the early 13th century the word also names a tune for dancing.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992) ''Belle danse'' was the 17th-century name of noble dancing,^(BHVF) the ''Encyclopédie'' (1754) records ''danse de Saint-Guy'', Saint Vitus's dance, and Bescherelle in 1845 the popular sense “a thrashing”.^(GLLF 1989) The ''danse macabre'', the medieval dance of death, takes its adjective, according to the REW, from the name of the Maccabees.^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1172–1175 – In Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1223 – Figurative use, in Gautier de Coinci.^(TLFi)

+ * 13th century – The spelling ''danse''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1640 – ''Mener la danse'', in Oudin.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1668 – ''La belle danse'', noble dancing.^(BHVF)

+ * 1754 – ''Danse de Saint-Guy'', in the ''Encyclopédie''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1845 – “A thrashing”, in Bescherelle.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A series of rhythmic movements of the body, usually to music; the act of [[danser|alt=dancing]]: ''pas de danse'', ''musique de danse''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # A particular dance or style of dancing: ''danse folklorique'', ''danse classique'', ''danse du ventre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # The art of dancing, [[m|en|choreography]]: ''cours de danse''.^(Le Robert)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # A piece of music for dancing.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(figurative)'' ''Mener la danse'': to be in charge, ''entrer dans la danse'': to join in.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Danse macabre'': the [[m|en|dance of death]].^(REW 1935)

+ # ''Danse de Saint-Guy'': [[m|en|chorea]], Saint Vitus's dance.^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(popular)'' A [[m|en|thrashing]].^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[danser]]

+ * [[danseur]]

+ * [[dancing]]

+ * [[bal]]

+ * [[en|dance]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}