gavotte

G2A1V4O1T1T1E1

noun

A French dance, in either 4/4 or 2/2 time.

OriginProvençal gavoto ← Old Occitan Gavot ← Old Provençal gava →
UncommonScrabble 11
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Meanings

noungavotte (plural gavottes)

plural gavottes

  1. A French dance, in either 4/4 or 2/2 time.
verbgavotte (third-person singular simple present gavottes, present participle gavotting, simple past and past participle gavotted)

present singular third person gavottes · participle present gavotting · participle past gavotted · past gavotted

  1. To perform this dance.

    You had one eye in the mirror as / you watched yourself gavotte / And all the girls dreamed that they'd be your partner / They'd be your partner, and / You're so vain

    1972, Carly Simon, “You're so Vain” (0:36 from the start) (audio recording), performed by Carly Simon, Rhino/Elektra, published 2017
    1 more example

    "Upbeat I can do." Karen paged through the options for a while, her pretty face tight, jaw clamped shut, then perked up at something she saw and jabbed the buttons like she wanted to speak to their manager. A bright, jangly guitar burst out of the wall speakers. George Harrison's voice announced that contrary to appearances, it was all right. Karen gavotted into the middle of the bar to dance, eyes closed in rapture.

    2023 August 2, HarryBlank, “Act Your Age”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 27 Dec 2024

Origin

  1. Old Provençalgava“crop”
  2. Old OccitanGavot“Alp native”
  3. Provençalgavoto“dance of the mountain people”
  4. Englishgavotte

From French, from Provençal gavoto (“dance of the mountain people”), from Old Occitan Gavot (“Alp native”, literally “glutton, boor”), from gaver (“force feed”), from Old Provençal gava (“crop”); attested since the 1690s.

More words from Provençal, Old Occitan, Old Provençal

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Czech gavota
  • gavotaFrench dance
French gavotte
  • gavotteFrench dance
Polish gawot
  • gawotFrench dance
Russian гаво́т
  • гаво́т (gavót)French dance
Swedish gavott
  • gavottFrench dance

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with gavotte

nothotgotlotshotScottspotdotslotplotpotwattscreenshotyachttotMontserratknotMayottemotrotcotswatapricotscot
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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