cotillion

Meanings

1. A bold dance performed in groups of eight where women lift their skirts to display their ankles.
2. The music regulating the cotillion.
3. Ellipsis of cotillion ball, a coming-of-age party meant to present girls newly transitioned into womanhood to the community for courtship.
4. A kind of woollen material for women's skirts.

1. To dance the cotillion.

Etymology

Circa 1750, in the sense of the dance, from French cotillon (“petticoat”), extended to the dance because of the distinctive lift of dress revealing the petticoat, from cotte (“dress”) + -illon (diminutive). Said to derive from the then-popular song Ma commère, quand je danse, mon cotillion va-t-il bien.