English

Noun

cinque-pace ‎(plural cinque-paces)

1. (obsolete) A lively dance, the galliard, whose steps were regulated by the number five.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Nares to this entry?)

   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2 Scene 1

     For, hear me, Hero: wooing, wedding, and repenting is as a Scotch jig, a measure, and a cinque-pace: the first suit is hot and hasty, like a Scotch jig, and full as fantastical; the wedding, mannerly-modest, as a measure, full of state and ancientry; and then comes Repentance, and with his bad legs, falls into the cinque-pace faster and faster, till he sink into his grave.