carmagnole
Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. (noun) A popular dance and song among republicans in the first French revolution.
- n. (noun) A garment and costume worn in France during the revolution, and considered as identified with the revolutionary party.
- n. (noun) The wearer of such a dress; any violent revolutionist.
- n. (noun) A bombastic report of the successes and glories of the French arms during the revolutionary wars; hence, any bombastic address or document.
Named for the French town of Carmagnola.
Examples
“Amongst the personages of a lower class, the most prominent is Toussaint Gilles, landlord of the Cheval Patriote, and son of one of the revolutionary butchers of the Reign of Terror; a furious republican, who wears a carmagnole and a red cap, inherits his father's hatred of the vile aristocrats, and prides himself on his principles, and on a truculent and immeasurable mustache.”
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 61, No. 379, May, 1847
“This specimen was from Throgg's Neck, and danced the carmagnole in concentric circles all by himself, twisting in and out between the waltzers evidently with the feeling that he was the 'whole show,' and that the other dancers were merely accessories to the draught he made, and followed in his wake.”
“The procession, now in full blast, demands the carmagnole, and the Convention consents; even some of the deputies descend from their benches and cut the pigeon-wing with the merry prostitutes.”
