rondeau

• WordNet 3.6
  • n rondeau a 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
  • n rondeau a musical form that is often the last movement of a sonata
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• • Rondeau A species of lyric poetry so composed as to contain a refrain or repetition which recurs according to a fixed law, and a limited number of rhymes recurring also by rule.
  • Rondeau (Mus) See Rondo, 1.
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• • n rondeau A poem in a fixed form, borrowed from the French, and consisting either of thirteen lines on two rimes with an unriming refrain, or of ten lines on two rimes with an unriming refrain. It may be written in octosyllabic or decasyllabic measure. The refrain is usually a repetition of the first three or four words, sometimes of the first word only. The order of rimes in the thirteen-line rondeau, known technically as the “rondeau of Voiture” (that is, Vincent Voiture, 1598-1648), is a, a, b, b, a; a, a, b (and refrain); a, a, b, b, a (and refrain); that of the ten-line rondeau, known technically as the “rondeau of Villon” (that is, François Villon, 1431-1461 ?), is a, b, b, a; a, b (and refrain); a, b, b, a (and refrain). These are the strict rules; but, as in the case of the sonnet, both in France and England, they are not always observed. There is also a form called the rondeau redoublé. It consists of six quatrains, a, b, a, b, on two rimes. The first four lines form in succession the last lines of the second, third, fourth, and fifth quatrains. At the end of the final quatrain, the first words of the poem are added as an unriming and independent refrain. Sometimes the final quatrain is styled the envoi or envoy.
  • n rondeau In music. See rondo.
  • n rondeau A game in which nine small balls are placed in front of a stick and propelled diagonally across a billiard-table. At least one ball must fall into the corner pocket and at least one must remain on the table. The players bet on whether the number will be odd or even, the bank taking ten per cent. of all the wagers.
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• • n Rondeau ron′dō a form of poem characterised by closely-knit rhymes and a refrain, and, as defined in the 17th century, consisting of thirteen lines, divided into three unequal strophes—the two or three first words of the first line serving as the burden, recurring after the eighth and thirteenth lines—brought into vogue by Swinburne:
  • n Rondeau ron′dō (mus.) a rondo
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