Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Dance in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels dance as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913noun
Dance

[F. danse, of German origin. See Dance, v. i.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headworddance
Part of speechnoun
Historical etymology[F. danse, of German origin. See Dance, v. i.]
Selected historical definitionThe leaping, tripping, or measured stepping of one who dances; an amusement, in which the movements of the persons are regulated by art, in figures and in accord with music.
Signed record IDwebster1913-dance-noun-03fd8bd497a7
Source locatorCIDE.D, paragraph 438; Gutenberg eBook 662
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 662Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "dance" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[F. danse, of German origin. See Dance, v. i.]" The selected historical definition says: "The leaping, tripping, or measured stepping of one who dances; an amusement, in which the movements of the persons are regulated by art, in figures and in accord with music."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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Webster 1913 exact record

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