What does cabriole mean?
Cabriole is a noun with two distinct applications, both derived from the image of a leaping or frisking goat. In furniture making, it denotes a leg carved with a graceful double curve — bowing outward at the knee-like top and tapering inward before flaring into an ornate foot such as a claw-and-ball — a hallmark of Queen Anne, Chippendale, and Louis XV design. In ballet, a cabriole is a jump in which the working leg is extended into the air and beaten by the other leg before landing. The word carries connotations of elegance, craftsmanship, and classical style, appearing most often in discussions of antiques, interior decoration, and dance technique. Its vivid etymology, rooted in the Italian word for a goat's playful leap, makes it a memorable term bridging the worlds of woodworking and choreography.
A furniture leg with a double curve, convex at the top and concave below, often terminating in an ornamental foot such as a paw, scroll, or claw-and-ball.
"Each Queen Anne dining chair was supported by slender cabriole legs."
This is the most common modern sense of the word.
In ballet, a leap in which the extended working leg is beaten by the other leg while both are airborne.
"The variation concluded with a series of soaring cabrioles."
Used almost exclusively within dance terminology.
Standard plural; commonly used when referring to multiple furniture legs or repeated ballet steps.
"All six cabrioles on the antique sofa were original."
Named after the frisking of goats — 'cabriole' comes from the Italian for goat's leap, which is exactly what your legs look like doing one in ballet.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cabriole
Cabriole derives from the Italian 'capriola', meaning the leap of a young goat, ultimately from the Latin 'caper' (goat), the same root behind English words like caper and Capricorn. It entered English in the early 18th century, when the fashion for curved furniture legs inspired by French Rococo design swept through Europe. The ballet sense developed later from the same imagery of an animal's bounding movement.
How cabriole is actually used
The furniture sense dominates general usage and appears frequently in antiques and interior-design contexts; the ballet sense is technical and used mainly by dancers and dance critics.
Easily confused with cabriole
Capriole is specifically a dressage leap where a horse kicks out its hind legs mid-air, while cabriole refers both to a ballet leap and to a curved furniture leg.