What does tambourin mean?
A tambourin is principally a lively Provençal folk dance that became fashionable in eighteenth-century France. Its best-known form involved male dancers dressed as shepherds, performing with energetic movements to the accompaniment of a tambourine or other percussion. The name has also referred to a small Provençal drum and to a long-necked guitar connected with the dance, although both instrumental senses are uncommon in modern English. The word evokes the fashionable French dance culture of the period, including court entertainments and staged shepherd masquerades. For modern readers, it is chiefly a historical cultural term rather than a word for a tambourine. Its unusual combination of a dance, a drum, and a guitar makes it especially useful when discussing French music, dance, painting, or decorative art from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
nounA lively Provençal folk dance that became fashionable in 18th-century France, traditionally performed by male dancers dressed as shepherds and accompanied by percussion. The term has also been applied to a small Provençal drum and to a long-necked guitar associated with the dance.
- A lively Provençal folk dance, especially the shepherd-themed dance popular in eighteenth-century France.
- A small drum used in Provence, particularly in connection with the dance.
- A long-necked guitar associated with the Provençal dance and used in France during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
"At the festival, dancers dressed as shepherds performed a lively Provençal tambourin."
"At the festival, dancers dressed as shepherds performed a lively Provençal tambourin."
"The painting depicts a tambourin accompanied by a guitar and a rural dance scene."
The plural normally refers to multiple instances or performances of the dance.
"The troupe performed three tambourins during the festival."
The tambourin was once a fashionable French court dance whose performers masqueraded as shepherds—giving rustic costume to one of the eighteenth century's liveliest entertainments.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does tambourin come from?
The English word was borrowed from French tambourin, a diminutive of tambour, meaning a drum. The French dance and the related names for its instruments developed in a Provençal musical tradition. English also adopted tambour through the same French vocabulary, while tambourine reflects the related diminutive form and ultimately refers to a small hand-played drum.
How tambourin is actually used
In modern English, the word most often refers to the historical Provençal dance. Its musical-instrument senses are uncommon and chiefly encountered in historical or specialist contexts.
Easily confused with tambourin
A tambourin is chiefly a Provençal dance or a historical instrument associated with it, whereas a tambourine is a small percussion instrument played by striking its head with the hand.