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tango

UK/ˈtæ̞ŋɡəʊ̯/US/ˈtæ̝ŋɡoʊ̯/
nounB1+Common in everyday speech and writing · #3,584 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: tangos

A tango is a dramatic partner dance of sharp turns and pauses. Dance the tango, a tango club, the last tango.

It came out of the poor districts of Buenos Aires and Montevideo and was disreputable long before it was elegant. It takes two to tango means both parties are responsible. Note that the origin of the word is uncertain and probably African, from a language brought to the region.

Coquimbo58 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Definitions of tango

  1. 1nountangoA dramatic partner dance of sharp turns and pauses.B1+

    “They learned to dance the tango on holiday in Buenos Aires.”

tango is a dance.

Where it comes from

Argentinian Spanish tango is probably from an African language, brought to the region by enslaved people.

  1. es-AR

    tango

  2. English, today

    tango

es-AR tango, probably from a nic language (compare ibb tamgu (“to dance”)).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Dance

Practise this word

tango in the wild

  • Carlos Gardel was a French-born Argentine singer, composer and actor, and the most prominent figure in the history of tango.

    Carlos Gardel

  • Gardel is the most famous tango singer of all time and is recognized throughout the world.

    Carlos Gardel

  • On August 31, 2009, UNESCO approved a joint proposal by Argentina and Uruguay to include the tango in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.

    Tango

  • Uruguayan tango is a rhythm that has its roots in the poor areas of Montevideo around 1880.

    Uruguayan tango

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.

Related words

the tango family

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tango — used about once every 621 pages · #3,584 · point at the bar for the others