Roundelay

//ˈɹaʊndəˌleɪ// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A poem or song having a line or phrase repeated at regular intervals.

    "It fell upon a holly eve, Hey ho, hollidaye! When holly fathers wont to shrieve, Now gynneth this roundelay."

  2. 2
    a song in which a line or phrase is repeated as the refrain wordnet
  3. 3
    A dance in a circle.
  4. 4
    Anything having a round form; a roundel.

Synonyms

All synonyms
albaanacreonticbaladaballadballadebucolic

Example

More examples

"It fell upon a holly eve, Hey ho, hollidaye! When holly fathers wont to shrieve, Now gynneth this roundelay."

Etymology

From Middle French rondelet, diminutive of Old French rondel (French: rondeau). Ending -lay either from lay (“ballad or sung poem”), or from virelay.

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