rondel

R1O1N1D2E1L1

noun

A metric form of verse using two rhymes, usually fourteen 8- to 10-syllable lines in three stanzas, with the first lines of the first stanza returning as refrain of the next two.

Similar
roundelrondeau
OriginMiddle English rondel ← Old French rondel ← Latin rotundus →
RareScrabble 7
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Meanings

nounrondel (plural rondels)

plural rondels · alternative rondelle · alternative roundel

  1. A metric form of verse using two rhymes, usually fourteen 8- to 10-syllable lines in three stanzas, with the first lines of the first stanza returning as refrain of the next two.
  2. The verse form rondeau.
  3. A rondelle, (small) circular object.
  4. historicalA long thin medieval dagger with a circular guard and a circular pommel (hence the name).
  5. historicalA small round tower erected at the foot of a bastion.

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar
roundel

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
rondeau
Broader
poemverse form
Also see
rondeauroundlet

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinrotundus“round, circular; spherical”
  2. Old Frenchrondel
  3. Middle Englishrondel
  4. Englishrondel

From Middle English rondel, from Old French rondel, a diminutive of ronde, the feminine of ront, reont (“round (in shape)”), from Latin rotundus (“round, circular; spherical”), related to rota (“wheel”).

More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Danish rondeldolk
  • rondeldolklong thin medieval dagger
French dague à rouelles
  • dague à rouelleslong thin medieval dagger
German Scheibendolch
  • Scheibendolchlong thin medieval dagger
Italian daga a rondelle
  • daga a rondellelong thin medieval dagger
Lithuanian rondelis
  • rondelislong thin medieval dagger
Polish sztylet tarczkowy
  • sztylet tarczkowylong thin medieval dagger
Spanish daga rondel
  • daga rondellong thin medieval dagger

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

LordenNolderrondle
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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