What does "quadrille" mean?
A dance originating in the mid-1700s with four couples forming a square, rather much like the modern square dance.
Quadrille
/kwɒdˈɹɪl/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·College level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A dance originating in the mid-1700s with four couples forming a square, rather much like the modern square dance.
- Grammar: quadrille is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: arrange, blackjack, bridge, card game.
- Useful contrasts: abstain, avoid, disperse.
- Usage evidence: It was not quadrille dancing, nor minuet dancing, nor even country-dance dancing.
How to use "quadrille"
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- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "quadrille" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
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Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "quadrille" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "quadrille" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
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Final meaning check
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 A dance originating in the mid-1700s with four couples forming a square, rather much like the modern square dance.
"The movements of the other women were more or less similar to Tess's, the whole bevy of them drawing together like dancers in a quadrille at the completion of a sheaf by each, every one placing her sheaf on end against those of the rest, till a shock, or 'stitch' as it was here called, of ten or a dozen was formed."
- 2 Quadrille ruled graph paper, quad paper.
- 3 A square tiling of the plane.
- 4 a square dance of 5 or more figures for 4 or more couples wordnet
- 5 The music for this dance.
"There was ol' Mickey Coote Who played hard on his flute When the ladies lined up for a set He was tootin' with skill For each sparkling quadrille Though the dancers were fluther'd and bet"
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 music for dancing the quadrille wordnet
- 7 A Spanish trick-taking card game from the 1700s played with a 40-card deck.
"It now first struck her that she was selected from among her sisters as worthy of being the mistress of Hunsford Parsonage, and of assisting to form a quadrille table at Rosings, in the absence of more eligible visitors."
- 8 A choreographed dressage ride, commonly performed to music, with a minimum of four horses.
Verb
- 1 To dance the quadrille. intransitive
"We quadrilled, waltzed, and conversed, in all of which my clever partner excelled; and her charms, combined with the excellent champagne I imbibed, fairly dazzled my imagination."
Adjective
- 1 Marked with squares. not-comparable
"Penknife, hand-lens, padlock key, marching compass and small cash went in his trouser pockets, leaving the tunic pockets for the little black quadrille notebook, pencil and pen, and the breast pockets for his breviary on one side and cigarettes and matches on the other."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"It was not quadrille dancing, nor minuet dancing, nor even country-dance dancing."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "quadrille"?
Common synonyms include: arrange, blackjack, bridge, card game, dance, dance form.
How do you use "quadrille" in a sentence?
It was not quadrille dancing, nor minuet dancing, nor even country-dance dancing.
How do you pronounce "quadrille"?
Pronounced /kwɒdˈɹɪl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
French, in sense of “group of knights”, from Spanish cuadrilla, diminutive of cuadra (“square”) (compare also cuadra (“four”)), from Latin quadra.
Etymology 2
From French quadrillé (“crosshatched”, adjective).
Etymology 3
Term used by John Horton Conway.