rondeau

[ ron-doh, ron-doh ]
/ ˈrɒn doʊ, rɒnˈdoʊ /

noun, plural ron·deaux [ron-dohz, ron-dohz] /ˈrɒn doʊz, rɒnˈdoʊz/.

Prosody. a short poem of fixed form, consisting of 13 or 10 lines on two rhymes and having the opening words or phrase used in two places as an unrhymed refrain.
a 13th-century monophonic song form consisting of two phrases, each repeated several times, and occurring in the 14th and 15th centuries in polyphonic settings.
a 17th-century musical form consisting of a refrain alternating with contrasting couplets, developing in the 18th century into the sonata-rondo form.

Origin of rondeau

1515–25; < Middle French: little circle; see rondel

Example sentences from the Web for rondeau

British Dictionary definitions for rondeau

rondeau
/ (ˈrɒndəʊ) /

noun plural -deaux (-dəʊ, -dəʊz)

a poem consisting of 13 or 10 lines with two rhymes and having the opening words of the first line used as an unrhymed refrain See also roundel

Word Origin for rondeau

C16: from Old French, from rondel a little round, from rond round