Synonyms for quadrille

Grammar : Noun

Spell : kwo-dril, kwuh-, kuh-

Phonetic Transcription : kwɒˈdrɪl, kwə-, kə-

Définition of quadrille

Origin : 1773, "lively square dance for four couples," from French quadrille (17c.), originally one of four groups of horsemen in a tournament (a sense attested in English from 1738), from Spanish cuadrilla, diminutive of cuadro "four-sided battle square," from Latin quadrum "a square," related to quattuor "four" (see four). The craze for the dance hit England in 1816, and it underwent a vigorous revival late 19c. among the middle classes.
Earlier the name of a popular card game for four hands, and in this sense from French quadrille (1725), from Spanish cuartillo, from cuarto "fourth," from Latin quartus. OED notes it as fashionable from 1726 ("and was in turn superseded by whist"), the year of Swift's (or Congreve's) satirical ballad on the craze:
The commoner, and knight, the peer,Men of all ranks and fame,Leave to their wives the only care,To propagate their name;And well that duty they fulfilWhen the good husband's at Quadrille &c.

As in square dance : noun country dancing in formation

Example sentences :

I would not take the trouble to stand up in a quadrille, if I were in his place.
Extract from : « Graham's Magazine Vol XXXII. No. 5. May 1848 » by Various

I opened it by dancing a quadrille with Flavia: then I waltzed with her.
Extract from : « The Prisoner of Zenda » by Anthony Hope

Coupeau was trying to force his way through the dancers and was disrupting the quadrille.
Extract from : « L'Assommoir » by Emile Zola

They'll turn the squadron into a quadrille and the march into a dance.
Extract from : « Rosinante to the Road Again » by John Dos Passos

She could not say any more, as she was called away to a game at quadrille.
Extract from : « The Memoires of Casanova, Complete » by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt

The lady who had excited it was advancing in a quadrille, some ten yards from her admirer.
Extract from : « The Young Duke » by Benjamin Disraeli

Quadrille parties were held weekly by the regiments and corps in garrison.
Extract from : « A Soldier's Life » by Edwin G. Rundle

I engage Madeleine for the first quadrille, and Bertha for the first waltz.
Extract from : « Fairy Fingers » by Anna Cora Mowatt Ritchie

You can walk through a quadrille, so you need not begin with excuses.
Extract from : « Floyd Grandon's Honor » by Amanda Minnie Douglas

This is my friend Bob Hely, performing the Cavalier seul in a quadrille.
Extract from : « The Christmas Books » by William Makepeace Thackeray

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Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019