noun, verb ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A slow graceful dance consisting of a coupé, a high step, and a balance.
2. 2
   a stately court dance in the 17th century wordnet
3. 3
   A tune or air to regulate the movements of the minuet dance: it has the dance form, and is commonly in 3/4, sometimes 3/8, measure.
4. 4
   a stately piece of music composed for dancing the minuet; often incorporated into a sonata or suite wordnet
5. 5
   A complete short musical composition inspired by and conforming to many formal characteristics of the traditional musical accompaniment to the dance of same name.

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6. 6
   A movement which is part of a longer musical composition such as a suite, sonata, or symphony which is inspired by and conforming to formal characteristics of the dance of same name.

Verb

1. 1
   To dance a minuet.

   "After he had raved his time upon the stage, the ladies and knights again minueted for an hour, and again gave place."

Synonyms

All synonyms

dancehustlejig

Example

More examples

"It was not quadrille dancing, nor minuet dancing, nor even country-dance dancing."

Etymology

From French menuet, from menu (“small”) + -et (“diminutive”), from Latin minutus (“very small”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.