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Rondo

3 stages from French to English.

Today it means a musical form in which a main theme alternates with contrasting sections
1
Stage 1 of 3
rondeau
French · medieval
"a round, a repeating form"
a poetic and musical form built around a repeating refrain
2
Stage 2 of 3
rondo
Italian · 1700s
"a musical form with a recurring main theme"
adopted into Italian musical vocabulary for the recurring-theme form
3
Stage 3 of 3
rondo
English · 1750s
"a musical form with a recurring main theme"
settled as the English word for the musical form
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