word of the day: roundelay

The word of the day is roundelay:

Etymology:  < Middle French rondelet roundlet n., with remodelling of the ending (through folk-etymological association) after lay n.⁴ or virelay n. Compare earlier roundel n. II., roundlet n.

Now somewhat arch. Freq. in pastoral poetry, or with pastoral associations.

 

1.a. A short simple song with a refrain. 

b. The competitive singing of such songs. Obs. rare.

2. A bird's song. 

3.a. A round dance. Cf. roundel n. 12. 

b. = fairy ring n. Obs. rare. 

4. A piece of music based on or accompanying such a song or dance. Also fig.5. fig. (orig. U.S.). A repetitive and apparently pointless cycle of events; a farce. (OED)

"Despite the bubbly erotic wit of Ernst Lubutisch's comedy 'Ninotchka' (playing at Film Forum through Jan. 3), the movie's political satire is chillingly serious.  Greta Garbo stars as Nina Ivanovna Yakushova, a stone-faced Soviet agent who arrives in Paris to sell jewelry confiscated from an exiled Russian noblewoman, Grand Duchess Swana (Ina Claire).  There, she allows herself to be seduced by Count Leon d'Algout (Melvyn Douglas), a debonair French idler, who happens to be Swana's lover.  The romantic roundelay, linking fine emotions with fine lingerie, is shadowed by the brutality of Soviet tyranny."

 - Richard Brody, "Red all over", 7 January 2013 The New Yorker