A member of a lay sisterhood in the Low Countries and parts of Europe, typically living in communities but not taking full monastic vows; also a type of song or dance from the Caribbean.
From Middle Dutch 'begijn' or Old French 'béguine' for the religious community member; the Caribbean music sense (a slow, sensual dance) comes from Martinique and Guadeloupe, possibly influenced by the religious term or independently derived from creole languages.
The beguine dance craze of the 1930s-40s (made famous by Cole Porter's 'Begin the Beguine') is linguistically unrelated to medieval beguines, showing how a word can split into completely different meanings across geography and time!
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