carmagnole means A popular Red Republican song and dance, of the time of the first French Revolution. It carries an Arena rating of 1307, earned across 187 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, carmagnole ranks #1,389 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words, #1,775 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #1,926 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #1,952 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words.
carmagnole is pronounced /ˌkɑːmənˈjəʊl/.
Why “carmagnole” is a great word
CARMAGNOLE — [Noun] A short, buttoned jacket worn by French revolutionaries, or the incendiary song and dance that became their anthem. From French carmagnole, named after Carmagnola, the French name for the Italian town of Carmagnola in Piedmont, from which the style of jacket originated. Unlike the farandole, a festive, apolitical chain dance from Provence, or the sans-culotte, which names the militant wearer by his trousers, carmagnole fuses sartorial symbol and savage performance. It is the glint of buttons under a smoky tavern’s lamp, the thunderous stamp of boots on cobblestones, and the ragged chorus shrieking “Ça ira!” into the night—a fleeting, furious unity of cloth, body, and destiny before the dispersal.
Etymology
18th-century, borrowed from French carmagnole, named after Carmagnole, the French name of the northwestern Italian town of Carmagnola.
noun
- A popular Red Republican song and dance, of the time of the first French Revolution.e.g.“dancing a devil's dance to the diabolical music of the carmagnole” — 1903, John Coleman, Charles Reade As I Knew Him:
- A short jacket, fashionable during the French Revolution, with short skirts, a broad collar and lapels, and several rows of buttons.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- carol 57% match — A round dance accompanied by singing. vs carmagnole →
- coranto 55% match — Any of a family of old French dances from the late Renaissance and the Baroque era in triple metre. vs carmagnole →
- barcarole 52% match — A Venetian folk song traditionally sung by gondoliers, often in ⁶⁄₈ or ¹²⁄₈ time with alternating strong and weak beats imitating a rowing motion. vs carmagnole →
- bergomask 48% match — A kind of rustic dance. vs carmagnole →
- carmine 48% match — A purplish-red pigment, made from dye obtained from the cochineal beetle; carminic acid or any of its derivatives. vs carmagnole →
- courante 48% match — Any of a family of old French dances from the late Renaissance and the Baroque era in triple metre. vs carmagnole →
- tintamarre 48% match — The Acadian tradition of marching through one's community making noise with improvised instruments etc., usually as a national celebration. vs carmagnole →
- caroling 48% match — A singing of carols. vs carmagnole →