snake dance
- noun
- /sneɪk dæns/
- US
:
danza de serpientes
- The Hopi people are well known for their annual snake dance, which is both spiritual and ceremonial.
Examples
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Visitors watched in awe as participants performed the traditional snake dance with live rattlesnakes.
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The Hopi perform a traditional snake dance every summer.
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Anthropologists have studied the symbolism behind the snake dance rituals in southwestern Native American cultures.
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Have you ever seen a snake dance in person?
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The Hopi people are well known for their annual snake dance, which involves handling and invoking snakes as part of their spiritual rituals.
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Visitors watched in awe as participants performed the traditional snake dance during the Hopi's ceremonial festival.
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Anthropologists have studied the snake dance as a significant ritual practice among Southwestern Indigenous peoples.
Synonyms
1
5.8
A dance performed during a religious or traditional ceremony
1
4.2
A dance done during a religious or ritual ceremony to show respect
A dance done during religious or ceremonial events like weddings and funerals
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'snake dance' is composed transparently from 'snake' + 'dance' and directly denotes a dance involving snakes; a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer this basic meaning. While the entry notes specific ceremonial uses (e.g., Hopi rituals), that cultural detail doesn’t block compositional inference, so the expression is predictable from its parts.
Etymology
Snake dance refers to a real ceremony in some cultures where dancers hold live snakes and treat them as part of a religious ritual, as in Hopi traditions. That's why the term means 'a ceremonial dance with snakes'.