ridotto

R1I1D2O1T1T1O1
UK/ɹɪˈdɒtəʊ/US/ɹəˈdoʊtoʊ/

noun

A public ball, typically a masquerade, popular in the 18th century.

“May 26, 1742, Horace Walpole, letter to Horace Mann There are to be ridottos at guinea tickets.”

Similar
reduction
OriginItalian ridotto →
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Meanings

nounridotto (plural ridottos or ridottoes or ridotti)

plural ridottos · plural ridottoes · plural ridotti

  1. historicalA public ball, typically a masquerade, popular in the 18th century.

    May 26, 1742, Horace Walpole, letter to Horace Mann There are to be ridottos at guinea tickets.

    1 more example

    Night came, with that increase of gaiety which has always been night's peculiar privilege—perhaps on the principle of contrast. Monday, it was the ridotto; Tuesday, the opera; Wednesday, Ranelagh; Thursday, the play; Friday, a ball; Saturday, a rout, or else a little of all these blended together.

    1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Another London Life”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 172
  2. entertainmentAn arrangement or abridgment of a piece from the full score.

    Synonyms: reduction

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAn arrangement or abridgment of a piece from the full score.

Similar
reduction

Origin

  1. Italianridotto“foyer”
  2. Englishridotto

Borrowed from Italian ridotto (“foyer”). Doublet of redoubt.

More words from Italian

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Doriott
Cite this entry
APA

ridotto. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ridotto

MLA

“ridotto.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ridotto. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ridotto,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ridotto.

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