pavane

noun

pa·​vane pə-ˈvän  -ˈvan 

variants or less commonly pavan

pə-ˈvän 

-ˈvan,

ˈpa-vən

1

: a stately court dance by couples that was introduced from southern Europe into England in the 16th century

2

: music for the pavane

also : music having the slow duple rhythm of a pavane

Examples of pavane in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Still, there is that perfectly shaped pearl of a pavane that, throughout it all, stays in the memory. —Los Angeles Times, 9 Jan. 2022

The second movement, processional and severe, is a pavane, not a dirge; this music needs motion, and Bach Collegium imbued this most famous of the symphony’s movements with a sense of solemn dance lost at a slower tempo. —Luke Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 May 2022

Word History

Etymology

Middle French pavane, from Italian dialect pavana, from feminine of pavano of Padua, from Pava (Tuscan Padova) Padua

First Known Use

circa 1510, in the meaning defined at sense 1