A lively dance, typically from the 17th-18th centuries, in which dancers face each other in two lines or groups and perform mirrored or opposing movements.
From counter- (opposite, facing) + dance. The term comes from French contredanse, which itself derived from English country dance, creating a linguistic loop. These dances were popular in European ballrooms where couples would dance in opposing or interlocking formations.
The contredanse became so popular in European courts that the French name was borrowed back into English as 'counterdance'—it's a word that literally traveled back and forth across the English Channel and changed languages mid-journey, which is rare in English!
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