minuet
noun
min·u·et ˌmin-yə-ˈwet 
1
: a slow graceful dance in ³/₄ time characterized by forward balancing, bowing, and toe pointing
2
: music for or in the rhythm of a minuet
Example Sentences
The orchestra played a minuet.
Recent Examples on the Web Here, the Maine landscape is gorgeously rendered in its COVID hush, and Strout balances the tension of viral spread with the complex minuet of Lucy and William coming to terms with their resentments and enduring love. 
Chloe Schama, Vogue, 14 Sep. 2022 Every minute the number of people who dance the minuet grows more minute. Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 June 2022 Choreographing their minuet was one of engineers’ biggest challenges. Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press, 7 Apr. 2022 The whimsy of its kinetic minuet (pivotal not least to the symphony but to the future of third movements at large) carried over into an energetic finale that built from the violins and spread outward like a wildfire. Washington Post, 14 Jan. 2022 One of the Taliban’s more complicated new-old relationships will be with Pakistan, which for two decades engaged in the delicate minuet of formally allying itself with the U.S. while serving as a Taliban sanctuary. Laura King, Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2021 The quartet took a stately tempo in the minuet, emphasizing its courtly associations. Tim Diovanni, Dallas News, 27 Apr. 2021 The object of the game: Players compose a 16-bar minuet by rolling a die and then choosing, bar by bar, which of six musical options, composed by Haydn, should come next. New York Times, 6 Mar. 2021 Kent State, 30 minuets after Game 7 conclusion, ESPN Plus. Tim Bielik, cleveland, 10 Mar. 2020 See More
Chloe Schama, Vogue, 14 Sep. 2022 Every minute the number of people who dance the minuet grows more minute. Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 June 2022 Choreographing their minuet was one of engineers’ biggest challenges. Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press, 7 Apr. 2022 The whimsy of its kinetic minuet (pivotal not least to the symphony but to the future of third movements at large) carried over into an energetic finale that built from the violins and spread outward like a wildfire. Washington Post, 14 Jan. 2022 One of the Taliban’s more complicated new-old relationships will be with Pakistan, which for two decades engaged in the delicate minuet of formally allying itself with the U.S. while serving as a Taliban sanctuary. Laura King, Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2021 The quartet took a stately tempo in the minuet, emphasizing its courtly associations. Tim Diovanni, Dallas News, 27 Apr. 2021 The object of the game: Players compose a 16-bar minuet by rolling a die and then choosing, bar by bar, which of six musical options, composed by Haydn, should come next. New York Times, 6 Mar. 2021 Kent State, 30 minuets after Game 7 conclusion, ESPN Plus. Tim Bielik, cleveland, 10 Mar. 2020 See More Word History
Etymology
French menuet, from obsolete French, tiny, from Old French, from menu small, from Latin minutus
First Known Use
1672, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Kids Definition
minuet
noun
min·u·et ˌmin-yə-ˈwet
: a slow graceful dance