| interlude | 1. A short entertainment exhibited on the stage between the acts of a play, or between the play and the afterpiece, to relieve the tedium of waiting. "Dreams are but interludes, which fancy makes When monarch reason sleeps." (Dryden) 2. A form of English drama or play, usually short, merry, and farcical, which succeeded the Moralities or Moral Plays in the transition to the romantic or Elizabethan drama. 3. A short piece of instrumental music played between the parts of a song or cantata, or the acts of a drama; especially, in church music, a short passage played by the organist between the stanzas of a hymn, or in German chorals after each line. Origin: OE. Enterlude, LL. Interludium; LL. Inter between + ludus play, fr. Ludere to play: cf. F. Interlude. See Ludicrous. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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