ridotto means A public ball, typically a masquerade, popular in the 18th century. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 90 out of 100.
ridotto is pronounced /ɹɪˈdɒtəʊ/.
Why “ridotto” is a great word
RIDOTTO — [Noun] A fashionable public ball or entertainment, especially a masked one in 18th-century Europe, or an arranged version of a piece of music from a full score for a smaller ensemble. From Italian ridotto ("foyer, retreat, place of resort"), from Medieval Latin reductus ("place of refuge, retreat"), from the past participle of Latin reducere ("to lead back, withdraw"). Borrowed into English circa 1715–25. Unlike "masquerade," which specifies a masked event, or "reduction," which denotes a general diminishment, a ridotto was the curated institution of social artifice and its musical namesake a precise distillation of grandeur. It is the rustle of silk in a candlelit casino, the gilt anonymity of a domino mask, and the complex melody transcribed for a solitary harpsichord—a deliberate, elegant withdrawal from the world's full, demanding score.
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian ridotto (“foyer”). Doublet of redoubt.
noun
- A public ball, typically a masquerade, popular in the 18th century.“May 26, 1742, Horace Walpole, letter to Horace Mann
There are to be ridottos at guinea tickets.”
- An arrangement or abridgment of a piece from the full score.