a very graceful kind of dance, consisting of a couse, a high step, and a balance; it begins with a beat, and its motion is triple.

The invention of the minuet seems generally to be ascribed to the French, and particularly to the inhabitants of the province of Poitou. The word is said by Menage and Furetiere to be derived from the French menu or menu, "small, or little;" and in strictness signifies a small pace. The melody of this dance consists of two strains, which, as being repeated, are called reprises, each having eight or more bars, but never an odd number. The measure is three crotchets in a bar, and is thus marked $\frac{3}{4}$, though it is commonly performed in the time $\frac{3}{8}$. Walther speaks of a minuet in Lully's opera of Roland, each strain of which contains ten bars, the sectional number being 5; which renders it very difficult to dance.