Definition of "polonaise" [po•lo•naise]

• A stately, marchlike Polish dance, primarily a promenade by couples. (noun)
• Music for or based on the traditional rhythm of this dance, having triple meter. (noun)
• A woman's dress of the 18th century, having a fitted bodice and draped cutaway skirt, worn over an elaborate underskirt. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The first wore a white silk, called a polonaise, forming a flowing robe, open to the waist; the pink sash was six inches wide, and filled with spangles; the shoes and stockings were also spangled, and, above all, arose a towering head-dress, filled with a profusion of pearls and jewels; the veil was spangled, and edged with silver lace."
• "In the olden times the polonaise was a kind of solemn ceremony."
• "Ax built this recital around the theme of fantasy, beginning with Chopin's Polonaise-Fantaisie in A flat, Op 61, in which the polonaise is a firmly focused introduction to the meandering that follows."