dancing

English

Etymology

From dance +‎ -ing. The sense "dance club" is from French dancing, a pseudo-anglicism derived from English dance +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation

• (UK, Cockney, Estuary English, Jamaica) IPA^(key): /ˈdɑːns.ɪŋ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdæns.ɪŋ/
  • (/æ/ raising) IPA^(key): [dɛə̯ns.ɪŋ], [deə̯ns.ɪŋ]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːnsɪŋ, -ænsɪŋ
• Hyphenation: danc‧ing

Noun

dancing (countable and uncountable, plural dancings)

1. The activity of taking part in a dance.
2. (historical) A dance club in France.
   • 2001, William Alfred Shack, Harlem in Montmartre: A Paris Jazz Story Between the Great Wars‎^[1], →ISBN, page 56:

     New dancings pervaded the length and breadth of Montmartre in order to suit the taste of foreign patrons.

   • 2003, Jeffrey H. Jackson, Making Jazz French: Music and Modern Life in Interwar Paris‎^[2], →ISBN, page 44:

     Different dancings also attracted different crowds. Indeed, the diversity of dancers throughout the city makes drawing a detailed portrait of them difficult.

Derived terms

• antidancing
• ballroom dancing
• barn dancing
• belly dancing
• border dancing
• break dancing, break-dancing, breakdancing
• Cotswold morris dancing
• country dancing
• dad dancing, dad-dancing
• dancing bologna
• dancing girl
• dancing mania
• dancing master's kit
• dancing plant
• dancing school
• devil dancing
• dirty dancing
• disco dancing
• folk dancing
• grave dancing
• Highland dancing
• horizontal dancing
• ice dancing
• Irish step dancing
• line dancing
• morris dancing
• pole dancing
• ropedancing
• skirt dancing
• slam dancing
• square dancing
• step dancing
• swing dancing
• table dancing
• tap-dancing
• tap dancing
• taxi dancing
• wire-dancing

Translations

activity of dancing

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can

  Hijazi Arabic: رَقْص m (ragṣ)

• Chechen: хелхар (xelxar)
• Danish: dans (da) c
• Dutch: dansen (nl) n
• Esperanto: dancado
• Finnish: tanssiminen (fi)
• German: Tanzen (de) n
• Hungarian: tánc (hu)
• Ido: dansado (io)
• Interlingua: dansa (ia)
• Manx: daunsey m, rinkey m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: dans (no) m

  Nynorsk: dans m

• Persian: رقص (fa) (raqs), وشتن (fa) (vaštan)
• Polish: tańczenie (pl) n, taniec (pl) m inan
• Swedish: dans (sv) c, dansande (sv) n
• Taos: tòʼóne
• Telugu: నర్తించుట (nartiñcuṭa)
• Volapük: please add this translation if you can
• Wiradjuri: waganha

Verb

dancing

1. present participle and gerund of dance

Adjective

dancing (comparative more dancing, superlative most dancing)

1. That dances

Derived terms

• dancingly
• dancingness
• nondancing
• undancing

Further reading

• “dancing”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French dancing, and this a pseudo-anglicism, derived from English dance +‎ -ing. First attested in 1926.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛːn.sɪŋ/, /ˈdɛn.sɪŋ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛːnsɪŋ, -ɛnsɪŋ
• Hyphenation: dan‧cing

Noun

dancing m (plural dancings, no diminutive)

2. (dated) dancehall (public hall for dancing)

   Synonyms: danshuis, danszaal

   De dancing was gisteravond gesloten. ― The dancehall was closed last night.

Further reading

• “dancing” in Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal – Officiële Spelling, Nederlandse Taalunie. [the official spelling word list for the Dutch language]

French

Alternative forms

• dancingue

Etymology

Pseudo-anglicism, derived from English dance +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɑ̃.siŋ/

• Audio (France (Nancy)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: dan‧cing

Noun

dancing m (plural dancings)

2. dancehall (public hall for dancing)

   Synonyms: boite de nuit, discothèque, (Quebec) salle de danse

Further reading

• “dancing”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from French dancing, and this a pseudo-anglicism, derived from English dance +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛn.sinɡ/
• Rhymes: -ɛnsinɡ
• Hyphenation: dan‧cing

Noun

dancing m (invariable)

2. dancehall (public hall for dancing)

Further reading

• “dancing” in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)
• “dancing” in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication
• “dancing”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from French dancing, and this a pseudo-anglicism, derived from English dance +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdan.siŋk/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ansiŋk
• Syllabification: dan‧cing
• Homophone: dansing

Noun

dancing m inan (related adjective dancingowy)

2. alternative form of dansing (“dancehall”) (public hall for dancing and a party there)

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:impreza

   Hypernym: zabawa

   nocny dancing ― night dancehall

   • 1947, Kazimierz Koźniewski, Przez dziesięć wojen, Kraków: Czytelnik, →OCLC, page 167:

     Dancingów tych jest wiele stopni. Od bardzo wytwornych lokali, z eleganckimi fortancerkami i artystycznymi produkcjami, do knajp typu marynarskiego, zakazanych i obskurnych spelunek.

     There are many levels to these dancehalls. From highly sophisticated venues with elegant taxi dancers and artistic performances, to sailor-style joints, forbidden dives, and dingy holes-in-the-wall.

   • 1947, Stefan Krzywoszewski, Długie życie, volume 1, Warszawa: Biblioteka Polska, →OCLC, page 340:

     Tańczono rano, w dzień i w nocy […] Najwięcej w dancingach, najmniej — w salonach prywatnych.

     People danced in the morning, during the day, and at night […] Mostly at dancehalls, and least of all in private parlors.

   • 1996, Marek Ławrynowicz, Diabeł na dzwonnicy [The Devil in the Belfry]‎^[3] (fiction), quoted in NKJP, Warszawa: W.A.B., published 1998, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 92:

     Wieczory spędzali na dancingu, gdzie z braku orkiestry wygrywał wiedeńskie walce i argentyńskie tanga znaleziony u burmistrza solidny niemiecki gramofon z monstrualną tubą.

     They spent their evenings at the dancehall, where, for lack of an orchestra, a sturdy German gramophone with a monstrous horn found at the mayor's house played Viennese waltzes and Argentine tangos.

   • 2001 January 15, Justyna Cyrus, “Nauka lekkości i gracji”, in Dziennik Zachodni, quoted in NKJP, Katowice; Bielsko-Biała; Częstochowa; Sosnowiec: Polskapresse (Oddział Prasa Śląska), →ISSN, →OCLC:

     Dawniej na dyskotekach, dancingach czy prywatkach wiele tańczyło się parami. Obecnie samotnie drepcze się w miejscu z beznamiętną miną.

     Back in the day at discos, dancehalls, or house parties, people used to dance in pairs. Nowadays, everyone just shuffles in place alone with a blank stare.

   • 2005 October 3, (old), “Straszny dwór”, in Dziennik Polski, quoted in NKJP, Kraków: Jagiellonia, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     W Bukownie wiele osób pamięta czasy świetności Leśnego Dworu, który tętnił życiem, odbywały się w nim dancingi, a zabawy przeciągały się do rana.

     In Bukowno, many people remember the glory days of Leśny Dwór, which was full of life, hosted dancehalls, and where the parties lasted until dawn.

Declension

Declension of dancing

	singular	plural
nominative	dancing	dancingi
genitive	dancingu	dancingów
dative	dancingowi	dancingom
accusative	dancing	dancingi
instrumental	dancingiem	dancingami
locative	dancingu	dancingach
vocative	dancingu	dancingi

Further reading

• “dancing”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[4] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “dancing”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[5] (in Polish)
• Zygmunt Saloni, et al., editors (2020), “dancing”, in Słownik gramatyczny języka polskiego [Grammatical Dictionary of Polish]‎^[6], 4. online edition, Warszawa

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French dancing, and this a pseudo-anglicism, derived from English dance +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdanθin/ [ˈd̪ãn̟.θĩn] (Spain, Equatorial Guinea)
• IPA^(key): /ˈdansin/ [ˈd̪ãn.sĩn] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -anθin (Spain, Equatorial Guinea)
• Rhymes: -ansin (Latin America, Philippines)
• Syllabification: dan‧cing

Noun

dancing m (plural dancings)

2. dancehall (public hall for dancing)