Pāv'an, n.

n. [Fr. pavane, It. & Sp. pavana, from Sp. pavon, pavo, Lat. pavo, a peacock.] A grave dance among the Spaniards, in which the performers make a kind of wheel before each other, the gentlemen dancing with cap and sword, princes with long robes, and the ladies with long trails, the motions resembling the stately steps of the peacock. [Written also pavane, paven, pavian, and pavin.]