Beguine

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Beguine \Be`guine"\, n. [F. b['e]guine; LL. beguina, beghina;
     fr. Lambert le B[`e]gue (the Stammerer) the founder of the
     order. (Du Cange.)]
     A woman belonging to one of the religious and charitable
     associations or communities in the Netherlands, and
     elsewhere, whose members live in beguinages and are not bound


     by perpetual vows.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Beguine
       n 1: (Roman Catholic Church) a member of a lay sisterhood (one of
            several founded in the Netherlands in the 12th and 13th
            centuries); though not taking religious vows the sisters
            followed an austere life
       2: music written in the bolero rhythm of the beguine dance
       3: a ballroom dance that originated in the French West Indies;
          similar to the rumba