rondeau

R1O1N1D2E1A1U1
UK/ˈɹɒn.dəʊ/US/ˈɹɑnˌdoʊ/US/ˌɹɑnˈdoʊ/

noun

A fixed form of verse based on two rhyme sounds and consisting usually of 13 lines in three stanzas with the opening words of the first line of the first stanza used as an independent refrain after the second and third stanzas.

Similar
rondeau panrondorondel
UncommonScrabble 8

Meanings

rondeau1

nounrondeau (plural rondeaux or rondeaus)

plural rondeaux · plural rondeaus

  1. communicationsA fixed form of verse based on two rhyme sounds and consisting usually of 13 lines in three stanzas with the opening words of the first line of the first stanza used as an independent refrain after the second and third stanzas.

    First of all, the two rondeaux appear in the 1538 version of the previously published Adoleseenee Clementine at the end of the section of poems of the same genre.

    1991, Doranne Fenoaltea, David Lee Rubin, The Ladder of High Designs, page 50
    1 more example

    Though we have the English rondels of Occleve and a set of rondeaus in the Rolliad (written by Dr. Lawrence, the friend of Burke, according to Mr. Edmund Gosse, who has given us an admirable essay upon exotic forms of verse), […].

    1914, Theodore Watts-Dunton, Poetry and The Renascence of Wonder, page 198
  2. A monophonic song with a two-part refrain.

    The rondeaus show great variety. There are two very short, apparently primitive rondeaus a 3.

    1986, Richard L. Crocker, A History of Musical Style, page 125
    2 more examples

    Still should not reference perchance be made to the rondeaus [which?] C. P. E. Bach presented in his last sonata collection?

    1968, American Musicological Society, Journal of the American Musicological Society, volumes 21-22, page 434

    […] for example, we might be tempted to think that his rondeaux also explore atypical compositional procedures.

    2009, Iain Fenlon, Early Music History: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Music, volume 1, page 61
  3. cookingSynonym of rondeau pan; a shallow pot or pan that can be used for braising.

    Synonyms: rondeau pan

Rondeau2

proper nounRondeau (plural Rondeaus)

plural Rondeaus

Synonyms & antonyms

nounSynonym of rondeau pan; a shallow pot or pan that can be used for braising.

Similar
rondeau pan

More synonyms by meaning

nouna musical form that is often the last movement of a sonata

Similar
Broader

nouna French verse form of 10 or 13 lines running on two rhymes; the opening phrase is repeated as the refrain of the second and third stanzas

Similar
Broader
poemverse form
Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Old Frenchrondel
  2. Middle Frenchrondeau
  3. Englishrondeau

From Middle French rondeau, from Old French rondel. Doublet of rondo.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian рондо
  • рондо (rondo)form of song
Finnish rondeau, rondeau
  • rondeauform of verse
  • rondeauform of song
German Rondeau
  • Rondeauform of verse
Russian ро́ндо, ро́ндо
  • ро́ндо (róndo)form of verse
  • ро́ндо (róndo)form of song
Tagalog dalithunig
  • dalithunigform of verse

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with rondeau

All rhymes →

Sounds the same

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

rondeau. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rondeau

MLA

“rondeau.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rondeau. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rondeau,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rondeau.

Source: rondeau on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.