α. 1500s purmenade, 1600s pourmenade.
β. 1600s– promenade.
γ. 1500s purmenado, 1600s promynado (Scottish).
promenaden.
/ˌprɒməˈnɑːd/, /ˈprɒmənɑːd/, U.S. /ˈˌprɑməˈˌneɪd/, /ˈˌprɑməˈˌnɑd/ 1. A leisurely walk, esp. one taken in a public place so as to meet or be seen by others. Also (occasionally): a ride or drive taken in this manner.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > ostentation > [noun] > walk or ride taken for display
promenade1567
society > travel > aspects of travel > going on foot > [noun] > walking for amusement or display > an act of
promenade1567
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > a public show or spectacle > type of show or spectacle > [noun] > parade or procession
processionOE
precessiona1400
walking1449
pomp1482
solemnity1636
parade1673
promenadea1734
processionade1762
processional1820
march past1832
fly-past1914
paseo1927
1567 G. Fenton tr. M. Bandello Certaine Tragicall Disc. i. sig. Ciii The often palewalkes & purmenades he made by the gate of hys Pallais.
1673 Gentlewomans Compan. 35 Your Promenades or walks.
1675 R. Flecknoe Treat. Sports of Wit 9 Either they rode abroad in their Coaches, to take the Air (which Promenade never ended without some Banquet or Collation) or walked out into the Garden.
a1734 R. North Examen (1740) iii. viii. §31. 606 He passed, with the Sword before him, through the Croud... This Promenade was done more than once.
1785 G. A. Bellamy Apol. Life V. 43 She only knew how to make trimmings, to sing ‘Haut de Villes’, and take the promenade.
1827 W. Scott Jrnl. 7 Mar. (1941) 31 To see the exhibition lit up for a promenade.
1886 J. Ruskin Præterita II. vi. 197 He had little taste for the Sunday promenades in a town.
1921 J. Galsworthy To Let 213 When lunch was over they broke up into couples for the digestive promenade.
1989 V. Singh In Search of River Goddess 142 A clochard on a bicycle, out for his nightly promenade.
2003 Art Q. Spring 60/2 Lined with cafés, it is an ideal spot for people-watching during the midday and evening promenade.
2.
a. A place for walking or promenading; a paved public walk, esp. one along the seafront at a resort.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > path or place for walking > [noun] > promenade
maidan?1551
parado1612
promenade1648
mailc1660
esplanade1682
parade1697
outwalk1698
mall1710
alameda1717
paseo1832
walk1843
block1869
broadwalk1930
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > path or place for walking > [noun] > promenade > by the sea
marine1615
promenade1648
front1766
marina1798
prom1909
1648 W. Montagu Miscellanea Spiritualia i. xix. §6. 364 This little intermixture of a Garden-plat or patern..may be no unpleasant walk or promenade for the unconfined portion of some solitary Prisoner.
1751 T. Smollett Peregrine Pickle II. liv. 132 Just as Pickle's carriage had crossed the Promenade, he heard his own name bawled aloud by the painter.
1787 A. Young Jrnl. 12 June in Trav. France (1792) i. 20 The promenade is finely situated; built on the highest part of the rampart.
1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola II. viii. 80 The streets were not altogether a pleasant promenade for well-born women.
1882 J. Ashton Social Life Reign of Queen Anne II. xxxiv. 149 A very large barge with a saloon, and promenade on the top.
1900 N.Y. Times 22 Nov. 3/1 The eddying crowds on the promenade [at Madison Square Garden] circled and stared.
1958 J. Betjeman Coll. Poems 117 Prepare for an evening of dancing and cards And forget the sea-breeze on the dry promenades.
1995 Guardian 29 July (Weekend Suppl.) 39/3 The gallery..dominates the promenade overlooking Porthmeor Beach.
b. Short for promenade deck n. at Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > part of vessel above water > [noun] > deck > decks for use of passengers
promenade deck1820
promenade1826
berth-deck1856
sun deck1876
saloon deck1888
shade-deck1894
1826 L. McKenny Let. 6 June in Sketches Tour to Lakes (1827) 27 Then comes, and over all, the grand promenade, with an awning, when the sun or rain requires it, over the whole.
1873 W. D. Howells Chance Acquaintance i. 1 On the forward promenade of the Saguenay boat..Miss Kitty Ellison sat.
1974 ‘G. Black’ Golden Cockatrice iv. 74 I..went up one deck..going out on to the open promenade which was empty.
1992 Ships Monthly Apr. 43/3 They cannot be adapted to feature the central promenade of the Helsinki route vessels.
c. British. An area without seats at a theatre or concert venue; spec. a gallery at a music hall, commonly thought to be frequented by prostitutes and their clients (now historical).
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > brothel > rendezvous for prostitutes or homosexuals > gallery in music hall
promenade1839
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > auditorium > [noun] > gallery > in music hall
promenade1839
1839 Times 1 May 4/6 Theatre Royal, Lyceum... Admittance to the promenade 1s., reserved seats in the balcony and boxes, 2s.
1863 Observer 18 Jan. 6/2 The Alhambra, of all the music halls, is the one least entitled to use the name... The balcony is converted into a promenade for loose women and the simpletons who run after them.
1899 M. Beerbohm Around Theatres (1924) I. 56 We bought two seats... We passed, on our way to them, into the far-famed Promenade.
1914 C. Mackenzie Sinister St. II. iv. ii. 872 On the Promenade where it was quite certain that every woman had a history to account for her presence there, how utterly living had quenched life.
1964 C. Mackenzie My Life & Times III. 236 A flash tart who frequented the promenades of the Empire or the Alhambra.
1996 New Statesman 26 July 38/2 Even for the starry Covent Garden Don Carlos there was still space at the back of the Promenade.
d. Short for promenade concert n. at Compounds 2. Cf. prom n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > a performance > [noun] > concert > types of
Philharmonic concert1740
benefit-concert1759
chamber concert1760
recital1762
Dutch concert1774
concert performance1777
philharmonica1796
musical soirée1821
sacred concert1832
soirée musicale1836
promenade concert1839
pianoforte recital1840
ballad concert1855
piano recital1855
Monday pop1862
Pop1862
promenade1864
popular1865
Schubertiad1869
recitative1873
organ recital1877
pop concert1880
smoker1887
smoke concert1888
café concert1891
prom1902
smoke-ho1918
smoking-concert1934
hootenanny1940
opry1940
Liederabend1958
1864 Times 4 June 14/1 The fourth of the series of Grand Opera Concerts and afternoon promenades takes place this day.
1901 Westm. Gaz. 18 Sept. 2/1 The Promenades are with us again.
1931 Morning Post 10 Aug. 6 (caption) The Promenades heard at home.
1967 Times 22 July 6/1 Henry Wood Promenades Sat., 22 July to Sat., 16 Sept.
2005 Bath Chron. (Nexis) 20 July 20 Tickets for the promenades, which take place in the award-winning gardens at Iford Manor..are available from The Theatre Royal Bath.
e. U.S. = prom n. 1. Now rare.Originally in reference to a promenade concert at Presentation Week at Yale University (see quot. 1865).
ΚΠ
1865 N.Y. Times 23 June 2/2 But ‘Presentation’, with its ‘Promenade’..has a far deeper hold upon the college community... Let not the uninitiated reader be misled by the name to suppose that the hall is filled with dignified promenaders marching to slow music... The name is good for those who think ‘a promenade’ is the proper thing, while they would be horrified if they could see their dear daughters, clasped in the arms of those ‘wild students’.
1887 Lippincott's Monthly Mag. Aug. 298 The most important society event of the year is the Junior Promenade.
1905 N.Y. Herald 22 Jan. 10 The fair guests invited to the Junior Promenade, the great event of the college year.
1933 Fortune Aug. 90/3 True jazz..is even losing its great popularity at college promenades.
2000 Philadelphia Inquirer 11 June ch04 We hold the school promenade there [sc. the school courtyard], the kids go there to take pictures, and it's where we have the awards ceremony.
3. Dance.
a. In country dancing: a movement resembling a march made by couples in formation.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > ball or dance > [noun] > other balls or dances
carolc1300
buttock-ball1698
redoubt1698
ridotto1708
race ball1770
county ball1771
dress ball?1772
promenade1778
waltz1802
hunt ball1807
dignity ball1834
ball-royala1843
polkery1845
jigging-party1872
prom1879
Cinderella dance1883
dinner dance1887
white ball1891
cotillion1898
taxi dance1910
Stampede Dance1950
go-go1965
1778 Gentleman's Mag. Nov. 596 5th. The Promenade, half round, to the right.
1808 T. Wilson Anal. Country Dancing 52 (heading) Promenade three couple.
1872 F. J. Wallace Excelsior Man. Dancing 27 This figure is again repeated and finish with the promenade.
1919 E. Scott Dancing (rev. ed.) xii. 117 Grand Promenade. All the couples walk or galop completely round the figure.
1968 J. C. Milligan Introd. Sc. Country Dancing 51 Promenade can be done by two, three or four couples. It is done in both reel and strathspey time and takes eight travelling steps.
1991 Amer. Square Dance May 70/2 Heads square thru, do-sa-do swing thru, spin the top, slide thru, swing corner, left allemande, do-sa-do, promenade.
b. In ballet: a slow turn made on one leg.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > ballet > [noun] > movements
entrechat1706
pirouette1706
sissonne1706
batterie1712
cabriole1753
ballonné1760
balancé?1770
brisé1786
ballotté1802
rond de jambe1824
petit battement1828
battement1830
elevation1830
fouetté1830
jeté1830
changement de pied1840
développé1888
temps1890
pas de ciseaux1892
plié1892
changement1905
beat1913
ciseaux1913
glissé1913
ouvert1913
allegro1914
pas de chat1914
pas de cheval1916
soubresaut1916
grand jeté1919
lift1921
toe-dancing1924
pointwork1925
posé1927
jeté en tournant1930
tour1930
extension1934
tour jeté1935
fondu1939
retiré1941
chaîné1946
soutenu1947
passé1948
saut1948
contretemps1952
promenade1953
piqué1954
gargouillade1957
1953 K. Ambrose Beginners, Please! vi. 43 When a pivot is made on one leg..the movement is termed a promenade.
1957 G. B. L. Wilson Dict. Ballet 222 Promenade, (1) a slow turn on one foot while the body is held in a set position, such as an arabesque; (2) a slow turn in a pas de deux when the danseuse, on point, is turned round by her partner.
1996 G. Morris Moving Words ii. ix. 153 Drosselmeyer repeatedly lifts the youth and supports him for balances and promenades.
2000 G. Benjava Nikki 102 It was quite impossible to do a promenade without a partner, since it is the partner who slowly rotates the ballerina in arabesque.
Compounds
C1. General attributive, as promenade bonnet, promenade platform, promenade terrace, etc.
ΚΠ
1809 Examiner 2 July 428/1 Promenade Dress.—A round high frock of fine French cambric.
1817 Repository Jan. 53/1 A very elegant promenade bonnet.
1841 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 4 250/1 The timber piles which carry the passengers promenade platforms.
1841 Punch 4 Dec. 244/1 Mr. Jones taking refreshment with a lamplighter and two cabmen at a promenade coffee-stand near Charing Cross.
1903 W. Lamb How & what to Dance vii. 70 The Redowa, when first introduced, began with a promenade movement, but it is now generally commenced with the circular figure.
1954 Times 6 May 3/6 At the Tower of London, the Ministry of Works will decorate the promenade terrace with Union flags.
2003 Independent 23 July (Review section) 14/5 The internal bridge that takes visitors past the pokey information desk..to the promenade level.
C2.
promenade band n. a band that performs at a promenade concert (now rare).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musician > instrumentalist > company of instrumentalists > [noun] > band > type of
waits1298
consort1587
wait player1610
wind music1650
the fiddles1676
military band1775
German band1819
street band1826
brass band1834
promenade band1836
horn-band1849
pipe band1867
wind-band1876
Hungarian band1882
jazz band1916
jazz orchestra1916
big band1919
road band1922
Schrammel quartet1924
showband1926
spasm band1926
dance-band1927
marching band1930
name band1932
ork1933
silver band1933
sweet band1935
Schrammel orchestra1938
pop band1942
jug band1946
steel band1949
rehearsal band1957
skiffle band1957
ghost band1962
support band1969
support group1969
scratch band1982
1836 Times 28 May 3/2 Orchestra and promenade bands of music.
1893 World 11 Oct. 23/2 Long before the run of a successful Savoy opera is over Sir Arthur's melodies are dinned into our ears by every promenade band and street piano.
1927 C. E. Russell Amer. Orchestra & Theodore Thomas iii. 28 The brass band, sometimes called a ‘promenade band’, sometimes a ‘silver cornet band’, was the illustrious climacteric at all these events.
promenade concert n. a concert at which all or part of the audience may stand, sit on the floor, or move about; spec. (frequently with capital initials) any in the series of such concerts instituted by the English conductor Sir Henry Wood and held annually at the Royal Albert Hall, London; cf. prom n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > a performance > [noun] > concert > types of
Philharmonic concert1740
benefit-concert1759
chamber concert1760
recital1762
Dutch concert1774
concert performance1777
philharmonica1796
musical soirée1821
sacred concert1832
soirée musicale1836
promenade concert1839
pianoforte recital1840
ballad concert1855
piano recital1855
Monday pop1862
Pop1862
promenade1864
popular1865
Schubertiad1869
recitative1873
organ recital1877
pop concert1880
smoker1887
smoke concert1888
café concert1891
prom1902
smoke-ho1918
smoking-concert1934
hootenanny1940
opry1940
Liederabend1958
1839 Mus. World Apr. 253 The ‘gentleman pensioner’ of Drury with his lions and his promenade concerts.
1897 Times 1 June 4/6 Mr. Wood has..at the promenade concerts and elsewhere, shown a laudable desire to make known the works of young English aspirants for fame.
1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 24 Mar. 4/1 It should combine the features of a convention hall with the facilities for holding promenade concerts at which at least 3,000 persons can be accommodated.
1993 Choir Schools Today Issue 7 1/3 Choristers from New College, Oxford were the first to be included in a Promenade concert at The Royal Albert Hall.
promenade deck n. an upper deck on a passenger ship, where passengers may walk.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > part of vessel above water > [noun] > deck > decks for use of passengers
promenade deck1820
promenade1826
berth-deck1856
sun deck1876
saloon deck1888
shade-deck1894
1820 J. C. Gilleland Ohio & Mississippi Pilot 307 Those who had remained after the disembarkation..stood upon the promenade deck and cheered the discharges as they came.
1904 Geogr. Jrnl. 23 632 From the promenade deck of the great passenger ships..it is comparatively rare to see more than occasional waves near the ship topping the horizon.
2000 A. Ghosh Glass Palace (2001) xxiv. 299 With dawn approaching the steward advised Manju and Neel to go to the promenade deck to watch the sunrise.
promenade position n. (in ballroom or country dancing) an open position for promenading in which the partners face in the same direction.
ΚΠ
1903 Mansfield (Ohio) News 22 Sept. 6/2 Taking a promenade position, the couple varsovienne—three steps and point—forward.
1950 S. Thompson Old Time Dancing (1951) vi. 117 On the last movement turn to face diagonally to centre along the Line of Dance in Promenade Position.
1994 Ballroom Dancing Times Feb. 173/1 The variation could be danced from any figures ended in Promenade Position ready to move along the Line of Dance.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
promenadev.
/ˌprɒməˈnɑːd/, /ˈprɒmənɑːd/, U.S. /ˈˌprɑməˈˌneɪd/, /ˈˌprɑməˈˌnɑd/ 1. intransitive. To take a leisurely walk (or a ride or drive), esp. in a public place so as to meet or be seen by others. Also figurative. Also (occasionally) transitive with it.In quot. 1783 the sense is of dancing.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > ostentation > make ostentatious display or show off [verb (intransitive)] > move or walk ostentatiously
trail1303
jeta1400
prancec1422
prankc1450
brank1568
promenade1699
parade1748
sashay1968
society > travel > aspects of travel > going on foot > go on foot [verb (intransitive)] > for amusement or display
promenade1699
parade1748
1699 J. Harris tr. Fables of Pilpay iii. 146 A Partridge..was promenading at the Foot of a Hill.
1783 J. O'Keeffe Son-in-law i. iii. 18 We'll promenade to the Mews-gate, then hay for a coach.
1819 Metropolis (ed. 2) II. 94 A very high person was..promenading it in soft whispers with his aged Venus.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Amphion in Poems (new ed.) II. 167 The poplars, in long order due, With cypress promenaded, The shock-head willows two and two By rivers gallopaded.
a1871 T. Carlyle in J. W. Carlyle Lett. & Memorials (1883) I. 374 Promenading gently on horseback.
1887 E. B. Washburne Recoll. Minister I. i. 3 The grandes dames..promenaded in their gilded phaetons on the magnificent Avenue of the Champs Elysées.
1952 J. L. Waten Alien Son 135 We watched him promenade slowly up and down in front of the houses.
1988 High Life (Brit. Airways) Apr. 82/3 A bar arranged like a conservatory where passengers can watch others promenading.
2003 Post Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 6 Apr. h3/3 The Chapeaux Rouges ladies promenaded into Saratoga Steaks & Seafood.
2. transitive. To make a promenade through; to walk about (a place) in a leisurely or ostentatious way.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > going on foot > traverse on foot [verb (transitive)] > for amusement or display
parade1778
promenade1790
1790 Harris's List Covent-Garden Ladies 88 This painted puppet..; before her acquaintance commenced with this son of Levi she promenaded the common road.
1818 ‘T. Brown’ Brighton II. i. 22 Their more fortunate comrades promenade Hyde Park, or the Mall.
1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) ii. 15 The dancers promenaded the room.
1876 M. M. Grant Sun-maid I. i. 48 I beheld two compatriots in waterproof promenading the place.
1913 Punch 30 July 101/2 Four young women who last week promenaded Fifth Avenue, New York, in slit skirts..were surrounded by an enraged mob.
1937 R. K. Narayan Bachelor of Arts ii. 38 One..promenaded the banks of Sarayu River in the evenings.
1999 D. Haslam Manchester, Eng. ii. 48 As the urban young became used to getting toffed up and promenading the streets, the parade became more ritualised.
3. transitive. To lead (a person or animal) or carry (a thing) about a place, esp. for display; to escort (a person) in an ostentatious way. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > ostentation > make ostentatious display of [verb (transitive)] > lead ostentatiously
promenade1795
society > travel > aspects of travel > going on foot > traverse on foot [verb (transitive)] > cause to walk or conduct on a walk > in specific manner
parade1765
promenade1795
troop1872
1795 W. Playfair Hist. Jacobinism iii. 87 The agents..promenaded the busts of the philosopher and the debauché together.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. I. iii. ix. 157 A ‘wicker Figure’..is promenaded,..then solemnly consumed by fire.
1850 C. Merivale Hist. Romans under Empire II. xxii. 512 Mystic rites, ostensibly connected with..familiar deities, were promenaded from land to land.
1873 J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera III. xxx. 10 The Easter ox that they had promenaded at Berne.
1890 in Pall Mall Gaz. 9 Aug. 1/3 I do not wish to be interviewed... I do not want to be promenaded in the papers.
1948 Life June 44/2 Governor Maw of Utah promenades Jean Lane, daughter of Maryland governor.
1955 V. Nabokov Lolita II. xiv. 90 Before their lighted porch Miss Lester was promenading Miss Fabian's dropsical dackel.
2002 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 1 Feb. 21 Gridiron's penchant for promenading their audience around interesting spaces.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1567v.1699