Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- To frequent or hold ridottos.
- noun A house or hall of public entertainment.
- noun A company of persons met together for amusement; a social assembly.
- noun A public entertainment devoted to music and dancing; a dancing-party, often in masquerade.
- noun In music, an arrangement or reduction of a piece from the full score.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb rare To hold ridottos.
- noun A favorite Italian public entertainment, consisting of music and dancing, -- held generally on fast eves.
- noun (Music) An arrangement or abridgment of a piece from the full score.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A public
ball , typically amasquerade , popular in the 18th century.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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There was what they called a ridotto el fresco at Vauxhall, (1066) for which one paid half-a-guinea, though, except some thousand more lamps and a covered passage all round the garden, which took off from the gardenhood, there was nothing better than on a common night.
The Letters of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford — Volume 3 Horace Walpole 1757
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I was in a perspiration, and the weather was cold; I threw myself into a gondola, and in order not to get chilled I landed at the 'ridotto'.
Memoirs of Casanova — Volume 08: Convent Affairs Giacomo Casanova 1761
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I was in a perspiration, and the weather was cold; I threw myself into a gondola, and in order not to get chilled I landed at the 'ridotto'.
The Complete Memoirs of Jacques Casanova Giacomo Casanova 1761
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"No theatre to-night," she said to me; "let us go to the 'ridotto', to lose or double our money."
Memoirs of Casanova — Volume 09: the False Nun Giacomo Casanova 1761
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At the end of the year 1774 the Great Council promulgated a law forbidding all games of chance, the first effect of which was to close the 'ridotto'.
The Complete Memoirs of Jacques Casanova Giacomo Casanova 1761
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At the end of the year 1774 the Great Council promulgated a law forbidding all games of chance, the first effect of which was to close the 'ridotto'.
Memoirs of Casanova — Volume 08: Convent Affairs Giacomo Casanova 1761
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"No theatre to-night," she said to me; "let us go to the 'ridotto', to lose or double our money."
The Complete Memoirs of Jacques Casanova Giacomo Casanova 1761
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After I had taken care of all the gold she had won, I gave her my arm, and we left the 'ridotto', but remarking that a few inquisitive persons were following us, I took a gondola which landed us according to my instructions.
Memoirs of Casanova — Volume 08: Convent Affairs Giacomo Casanova 1761
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After I had taken care of all the gold she had won, I gave her my arm, and we left the 'ridotto', but remarking that a few inquisitive persons were following us, I took a gondola which landed us according to my instructions.
The Complete Memoirs of Jacques Casanova Giacomo Casanova 1761
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'ridotto', which at that time was opened on St. St.phen's Day.
Memoirs of Casanova — Volume 08: Convent Affairs Giacomo Casanova 1761
chained_bear commented on the word ridotto
"'She has been driving about the countryside, dining with people as far as twenty miles away... frequently going to balls and ridottos in Portsmouth...'"
--P. O'Brian, The Commodore, 43
March 16, 2008
bilby commented on the word ridotto
Sometimes used as a slang word for idiot in Italian.
April 10, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word ridotto
Really? In which part of Italy?
April 10, 2008
bilby commented on the word ridotto
Central, Umbria. I think it's related to the notion of disability. For instance, the public buses have a sign in them next the big space that reads: Questo posto e' riservato alle persone a ridotta capacita' motoraria.
Hence un ridotto is a person 'of reduced capacity', in this pejorative sense mental capacity. I also heard a girl from Ischia use it in this sense - "Ma dai, non fare il ridotto per carita'" - to a person who was doing something stupid.
April 10, 2008