rumba

[ ruhm-buh, room-, room- ]

noun

, plural rum·bas [ruhm, -b, uh, z, room, -, room, -].

1. a dance, Cuban in origin and complex in rhythm.
2. an imitation or adaptation of this dance in the United States.
3. music for this dance or in its rhythm.

verb (used without object)

, rum·baed [ruhm, -b, uh, d, room, -, room, -], rum·ba·ing [ruhm, -b, uh, -ing, room, -, room, -].

1. to dance the rumba.

rumba

/ ˈrʌmbə; ˈrʊm- /

noun

1. a rhythmic and syncopated Cuban dance in duple time
2. a ballroom dance derived from this
3. a piece of music composed for or in the rhythm of this dance

Word History and Origins

Origin of rumba¹

First recorded in 1910–15; from Latin American Spanish (Cuba): literally, “party; spree,” from Spanish rumbo “commotion, uproar,” earlier “ostentation, pomp”; further origin uncertain

Word History and Origins

Origin of rumba¹

C20: from Spanish: lavish display, of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

We also get a broad, electrifying sampling of the era’s freedom jams, be they from our shore’s turntables and radios or the African rumba scene.

From Los Angeles Times

But every night, no matter the circumstances, the percussive sounds of rumba filled her childhood home.

From Los Angeles Times

Arocena, 32, grew up in Santos Suárez, a neighborhood in Havana, with a family immersed in rumba folklore so passionately that they turned household objects into musical instruments.

From New York Times

Soon she was, as she writes, “out on the dance floor fusing my ballet training with the salsa, mambo and rumba steps I was learning.”

From New York Times

In “Balancê,” the title song of her 2005 album and one of her biggest hits, she sang in Portuguese about wanting to share “A new dance/A mix of semba with samba, mambo with rumba.”

From New York Times