dressage

UK/ˈdɹɛs.ɑːʒ/US/ˈdɹɛs.ɑːʒ/

nounC1Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechleans written

Dressage is a test of a horse's precise, trained movements. A dressage test, compete in dressage, the dressage arena.

It is judged on how invisible the rider's aids are, so the horse should appear to move of its own accord. The word is French for training, and the top movements take years of daily work to build.

Definitions of dressage

1noundressageA test of a horse's precise, trained movements.C1
“She spent years training her horse for dressage, practising every step and turn.”

dressage is a discipline.

Where it comes from

French
dressage — training
English, today
dressage

Borrowed from French dressage (“training”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Sports & Games Played, Horses & Riding

Practise this word

dressage in the wild

At the peak of a dressage horse's gymnastic development, the horse responds smoothly to a skilled rider's minimal aids.
Dressage
Much about training systems used today reflects practices of classical dressage.
Dressage
Equestrian events at the 2004 Summer Olympics featured three equestrian disciplines: dressage, eventing and jumping.
Equestrian events at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Classical dressage evolved from cavalry movements and training for the battlefield, and has since developed into the competitive dressage seen today.
Classical dressage
Theodora Elisabeth Gerarda "Anky" van Grunsven is a Dutch dressage champion who is the only rider to record three successive Olympic wins in the same event.
Anky van Grunsven

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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