antimasque

American  

[an-ti-mask] / ˈæn tɪˌmæsk /

Sometimes antimask

noun

1. a comic or grotesque performance, as a dance, presented before or between the acts of a masque.

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antimasque British  

/ ˈæntɪˌmɑːsk /

noun

1. a comic or grotesque dance, presented between the acts of a masque

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Other Word Forms

• antimasker noun
• antimasquer noun

Etymology

Origin of antimasque

First recorded in 1600–10; anti- + masque; replacing antemask; ante-, mask

Example Sentences

These gallant Templars were accompanied by the finest band of picked musicians that London could afford, and were followed by the antimasque of beggars and cripples, who were mounted on “the poorest, leanest jades that could be gotten out of the dirt-carts.”

From Project Gutenberg

After the beggars’ antimasque came a band of pipes, whistles, and instruments, sounding notes like those of birds, of all sorts, in excellent harmony; and these ushered in “the antimasque of birds,” which consisted of an owl in an ivy bush, with innumerable other birds in a cluster about the owl, gazing upon her.

From Project Gutenberg

Then came a wild, harsh band of northern music, bagpipes, horns, &c., followed by the “antimasque of projectors,” who were in turn succeeded by a string of chariots drawn by four horses abreast, filled with “gods and goddesses,” and preceded by heathen priests.

From Project Gutenberg

Antimask, Antimasque, an′ti-mask, n. a ridiculous interlude dividing the parts of the more serious mask.

From Project Gutenberg

Jonson's Masque of Oberon, produced January 1, 1611, contains an antimasque of satyrs which may bear some relation to the similar dance in IV, iv, 331 ff.

From Project Gutenberg