Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A slow, stately court dance of the 1500s and 1600s, usually in duple meter.
  • noun The music for this dance.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun music A musical style characteristic of the 16th and 17th centuries.
  • noun music, dance A moderately slow, courtly processional dance in duple time/meter.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun music composed for dancing the pavane
  • noun a stately court dance of the 16th and 17th centuries

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French pavane, from Italian pavana, from feminine of pavano, of Padua, from dialectal pavàn, from Pava, dialectal variant of Padova, Padua.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French pavane, from dialectal Italian pavana, contraction of the older padovana, feminine of padovano, meaning from the city of Padua (Italian Padova, dialectal form Pava).

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Examples

  • Kalira went into a parade gait called a pavane, a kind of slow-motion trot with feet raised as high as possible, as Lan sat very straight and still in the saddle.

    Brightly Burning Lackey, Mercedes 2000

  • The masked dancing, if it were dancing at all, which had been general in the days of the Emperor Maximilian, and which had not yet gone out of fashion altogether at the imperial court of Vienna, had long been relegated to the past in Spain, and the beautiful "pavane" dances, of which awkward travesties survive in our day, had been introduced instead.

    In the Palace of the King A Love Story of Old Madrid 1881

  • Harry was fumbling with her bodice but unable to manage the laces, changed his mind, and decided to lead her in a disorderly pavane instead, smudging the wet paint of the new flats as he went.

    Exit the Actress Priya Parmar 2011

  • Harry was fumbling with her bodice but unable to manage the laces, changed his mind, and decided to lead her in a disorderly pavane instead, smudging the wet paint of the new flats as he went.

    Exit the Actress Priya Parmar 2011

  • Before he could respond, Queen Kathryn called to him to lead her out for the first pavane.

    Secrets of the Tudor Court Kate Emerson 2010

  • His voice was anxious, but the steps of the pavane carried us apart before I could answer.

    Secrets of the Tudor Court Kate Emerson 2010

  • Before he could respond, Queen Kathryn called to him to lead her out for the first pavane.

    Secrets of the Tudor Court Kate Emerson 2010

  • Before he could respond, Queen Kathryn called to him to lead her out for the first pavane.

    Secrets of the Tudor Court Kate Emerson 2010

  • His voice was anxious, but the steps of the pavane carried us apart before I could answer.

    Secrets of the Tudor Court Kate Emerson 2010

  • His voice was anxious, but the steps of the pavane carried us apart before I could answer.

    Secrets of the Tudor Court Kate Emerson 2010

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