Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

belly dance

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: 4.04 in modern English

Syllables: bel-ly -dance
IPA

18

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

3

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A form of dance originating in the Middle East and characterized by movements of the torso.

Countable; Uncountable

verb

To perform a belly dance.

Etymology

Calque of French danse du ventre, equivalent to belly + dance. First attested in English in 1889, in an article about that year's Exposition Universelle in Paris in the November 22 edition of the Yorkshire Factory Times: "A café in the Rue du Caire attracted 2,000 spectators daily to see the ‘belly dance’, and realised a total of 400,000 francs." Early sources also used the French term danse du ventre as-is.

Usage

Inflected Forms

belly dances (plural) bellydance (alternative) belly-dance (alternative) belly dances (present, singular) belly dancing (participle, present) belly danced (participle, past) belly danced (past)

Phrases

belly dancer belly dancing

Synonyms

oriental dance belly dancing danse du ventre

Questions

What does belly dance mean?: A form of dance originating in the Middle East and characterized by movements of the torso.
Where does belly dance come from?: Calque of French danse du ventre, equivalent to belly + dance. First attested in English in 1889, in an article about that year's Exposition Universelle in Paris in the November 22 edition of the Yorkshire Factory Times: "A café in the Rue du Caire attracted 2,000 spectators daily to see the ‘belly dance’, and realised a total of 400,000 francs." Early sources also used the French term danse du ventre as-is.

How to pronounce belly dance

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