Vir'e-lāy, n.

n. [Fr. virelai, from virer, to turn, and lai, a song, a lay, q. v.] An ancient French song, or short poem, wholly in two rhymes, and composed in short lines, with a refrain.

To which a lady sung a virelay. Dryden.

“The virelay admitted only two rhymes, and after employing one for some time, the poet was to virer, or turn, to the other. . . . I do not recollect any real virelay in English.” Nares.