Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word quadrille. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word quadrille, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say quadrille in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word quadrille you have here. The definition of the word quadrille will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofquadrille, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
A dance originating in the mid-1700s with four couples forming a square, rather much like the modern square dance.
1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, part 2:
The movements of the other women were more or less similar to Tess's, the whole bevy of them drawing together like dancers in a quadrille at the completion of a sheaf by each, every one placing her sheaf on end against those of the rest, till a shock, or 'stitch' as it was here called, of ten or a dozen was formed.
1812, Jane Austen, chapter 17, in Pride and Prejudice:
It now first struck her that she was selected from among her sisters as worthy of being the mistress of Hunsford Parsonage, and of assisting to form a quadrille table at Rosings, in the absence of more eligible visitors.
1834, Arthur Courtenay, Autobiography and Letters of Arthur Courtenay, page 36:
We quadrilled, waltzed, and conversed, in all of which my clever partner excelled; and her charms, combined with the excellent champagne I imbibed, fairly dazzled my imagination.
