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DictionarygavotteFrench dance
noun

gavotte

guh-VAHT/ɡəˈvɑːt/

A French dance performed at a moderate pace in duple meter.

The dancers perform a gavotte at a steady, moderate pace.

Two dancers perform a restrained, coordinated gavotte step in early eighteenth-century France, with upright posture and small, measured foot movements.
Etymology
gavotteOld Provençalmountaineer’s dance

Gavoto meant a mountaineer’s dance and was based on a local name for an Alpine resident. The dance’s name thus points to the people associated with it, rather than its tempo or rhythm.

More examples

  • We learn the steps of a gavotte in dance class.
  • The program includes two gavottes and a minuet.
  • The pianist plays a gavotte while the dancers rehearse.

Forms

gavotte · gavottes

Similar words

minuet
Another French dance, but in triple rather than duple meter.
bourree
A French dance in duple meter, typically quicker and livelier.