: a stately court dance by couples that was introduced from southern Europe into England in the 16th century
2
: music for the pavane
also: music having the slow duple rhythm of a pavane
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebThe second movement, processional and severe, is a pavane, not a dirge; this music needs motion, and Bach Collegium imbued this most famous of the symphony’s movements with a sense of solemn dance lost at a slower tempo. Luke Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 May 2022
Word History
Etymology
Middle French pavane, from Italian dialect pavana, from feminine of pavano of Padua, from Pava (Tuscan Padova) Padua