minuet

American  

[min-yoo-et] / ˌmɪn yuˈɛt /

noun

1. a slow, stately dance in triple meter, popular in the 17th and 18th centuries.

2. a piece of music for such a dance or in its rhythm.

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minuet British  

/ ˌmɪnjʊˈɛt /

noun

1. a stately court dance of the 17th and 18th centuries in triple time

2. a piece of music composed for or in the rhythm of this dance, sometimes as a movement in a suite, sonata, or symphony See also scherzo

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Etymology

Origin of minuet

1665–75; < French menuet, equivalent to menu small ( see menu) + -et -et; so called from the shortness of the dancers' steps

Explanation

A minuet is a 17th-century court dance. It's also the music that goes with that dance. The minuet is a fancy, stately dance from the 17th century performed by members of a court. Two people dance a minuet, and it’s performed in triple time. Throughout 17th century Europe, the minuet was extremely popular. A minuet can also be the music that accompanied the dance.

Example Sentences

This was no primly patterned minuet, where dancers stood side by side, attention directed to precisely mapping elaborate steps.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 31, 2024

One-word titles like that of the Belgian writer and director Bas Devos’s “Here” can create a minuet of meaning.

From New York Times • Feb. 8, 2024

He has discontinued the elbowing, apparently, while sustaining that courtside calm, still looking out there with fascination at the same minuet after 52 years of coaching.

From Washington Post • Mar. 30, 2023

Boeing has agreed to greatly improve its Remote Vision System, 3D cameras that feed a console where an airman guides a refueling boom during the midair minuet to connect with another plane.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 20, 2022

The minuet is in C, but the melody is a little too low for a flute46 , and the bassoonist would also be more comfortable playing higher.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones