sun dance
1
8.8
- noun
- /sʌn dæns/
- Literature
:
danza del sol
- As part of their summer rituals, they perform the sun dance to pay tribute to the sun's power.
Examples
-
The "sun dance when the forked poles were left standing" was the last to be attempted by Kiowas (Mooney 1979 1898:347, 352-359).
Academic text (1994) -
The tribe gathered at dawn to begin the annual sun dance in honor of the sun.
-
I wonder why they didn't perform the sun dance?
Blog text (4) -
Rebekah watched the sun dance on the golden waters, and her heart beat with anticipation.
Fiction book (2002) -
The sun-dance and all other similar dances and so-called religious ceremonies are considered "Indian Offences" under existing regulations, and corrective penalties are provided.
Academic text (1994) -
In The Names, Momaday equates the idea of the centaur with the golden age of the Kiowas: "In the course of their long journey they had acquired horses, the sun dance religion, and a certain love and possession of the prairies."
Academic text (1994) -
During the sun dance, participants offer prayers and make sacrifices to show their respect for the sun.
Synonyms
947
1.0
A set of steps and movements performed to music
1
2.8
A dance from a community that people learn from their grandparents
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 constituents 'sun' and 'dance' transparently indicate a dance related to or honoring the sun, so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer a general meaning (a dance for the sun). However, the full, culture-specific sense — a particular ceremonial ritual practiced by certain Native American peoples at the summer solstice — is not predictable from the words alone, so detailed understanding requires prior cultural knowledge.
Etymology
Sun dance comes from the simple image of people dancing for the sun at the start of summer. Dancers would face the sun and join a long ceremony to show respect, so the phrase now means 'a ceremony to honor the sun'.