Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Tarantella
Tarˊan-tel′la
,Noun.
[It.]
(Mus.)
(a)
A rapid and delirious sort of Neapolitan dance in 6-8 time, which moves in whirling triplets; – so called from a popular notion of its being a remedy against the poisonous bite of the tarantula. Some derive its name from Taranto in Apulia.
(b)
Music suited to such a dance.
Definition 2024
tarantella
tarantella
English
Noun
tarantella (plural tarantellas)
- A rapid dance in 6/8 time, originating in Italy, or a piece of music for such a dance.
- 1868 — Louisa May Alcott, Little Women ch. 37
- The set in which they found themselves was composed of English, and Amy was compelled to walk decorously through a cotillion, feeling all the while as if she could dance the tarantella with relish.
- 1895 — Bret Harte, The Devotion of Enriquez
- "A tarantella, I presume?" blandly suggested the doctor.
- Miss Mannersley stopped, and rose carelessly from the piano. "It is a Moorish gypsy song of the fifteenth century," she said dryly.
- 1922 — Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion ch. v
- We learn to understand why our addled minds seize so little with precision, why they are caught up and tossed about in a kind of tarantella by headlines and catch-words, why so often they cannot tell things apart or discern identity in apparent differences.
- 1868 — Louisa May Alcott, Little Women ch. 37
Related terms
Translations
rapid dance
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See also
Finnish
Noun
tarantella
Declension
| Inflection of tarantella (Kotus type 9/kala, no gradation) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | tarantella | tarantellat | |
| genitive | tarantellan | tarantellojen | |
| partitive | tarantellaa | tarantelloja | |
| illative | tarantellaan | tarantelloihin | |
| singular | plural | ||
| nominative | tarantella | tarantellat | |
| accusative | nom. | tarantella | tarantellat |
| gen. | tarantellan | ||
| genitive | tarantellan | tarantellojen tarantellainrare |
|
| partitive | tarantellaa | tarantelloja | |
| inessive | tarantellassa | tarantelloissa | |
| elative | tarantellasta | tarantelloista | |
| illative | tarantellaan | tarantelloihin | |
| adessive | tarantellalla | tarantelloilla | |
| ablative | tarantellalta | tarantelloilta | |
| allative | tarantellalle | tarantelloille | |
| essive | tarantellana | tarantelloina | |
| translative | tarantellaksi | tarantelloiksi | |
| instructive | — | tarantelloin | |
| abessive | tarantellatta | tarantelloitta | |
| comitative | — | tarantelloineen | |
Synonyms
Italian
Etymology
Diminutive of Taranto, a town in southern Italy (but popularly associated with tarantola ‘tarantula’).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /taranˈtɛlːa/
Noun
tarantella f (plural tarantelle)