PAVAN, or PAVANE, a grave dance used amongst the Spaniards, and borrowed from them, in which the performers made a kind of wheel or tail before each other, like that of paro, a peacock; from which circumstance the name is derived. The pavane was formerly in great repute, and was danced by gentlemen with cap and sword, by those of the long robe in their gowns, by princes with their mantles, and by the ladies with their trains trailing on the ground. It was called the grand ball, from the solemnity with which it was performed.