different between soiree vs cotillion

English

Alternative forms

• soirée

Etymology

Borrowed from French soirée (“evening activity”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?sw????e?/
• Rhymes: -e?

Noun

soiree (plural soirees)

1. A formal evening party.

Translations

English

Alternative forms

• cotillon

Etymology

Circa 1750, in the sense of the dance, from French cotillon (“petticoat”), extended to the dance because of the distinctive lift of dress revealing the petticoat, from cotte (“dress”) + -illon (diminutive). Said to derive from the then-popular song Ma commère, quand je danse, mon cotillion va-t-il bien.

Noun

cotillion (plural cotillions)

1. (dance) A bold dance performed in groups of eight where women lift their skirts to display their ankles. [from 1766]
   • 1797 Mrs. Hughes now joined them, and asked Miss Tilney if she was ready to go. "I hope I shall have the pleasure of seeing you again soon," said Catherine. "Shall you be at the cotillion ball tomorrow?" Jane Austin Northanger Abbey (written 1797 first published 1818) Chapter 10.
   • [1]
2. (music) The music regulating the cotillion.
   • 1848 I kept a parlor open for the reception of visitors, many came here to practise with me, and many more to listen to us—several young men put themselves under my tuition, and although I had never been taught myself, they progressed finely in their studies and I soon brought out, not only the best field music, but also for dinners, balls, cotilion and tea parties, weddings, &c. THRILLING SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF THE DISTINGUISHED CHIEF OKAH TUBBEE ALIAS, WM. CHUBBEE, Son of the Head Chief, Mosholeh Tubbee, of theChoctaw Nation of Indians. BY REV. L. L. ALLEN, AUTHOR OF “PENCILLINGS UPON THE RIO GRANDE,” &c. NEW YORK, 1848. ENTERED according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1848, by Okah Tubbee, alias William Chubbee, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York. AN ESSAY UPON THE INDIAN CHARACTER.[2]
3. (US) Ellipsis of cotillion ball; a coming-of-age party meant to present girls newly transitioned into womanhood to the community for courtship. [from 1898]
4. (textiles) A kind of woollen material for women's skirts.

Verb

cotillion (third-person singular simple present cotillions, present participle cotillioning, simple past and past participle cotillioned)

1. (intransitive, rare) To dance the cotillion.

Further reading

• cotillion on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• octillion