||Vaude"ville (?), n. [F., fr. Vau-de- vire, a village in Normandy, where Olivier Basselin, at the end of the 14th century, composed such songs.] [Written also vaudevil.]

1. A kind of song of a lively character, frequently embodying a satire on some person or event, sung to a familiar air in couplets with a refrain; a street song; a topical song.

2. A theatrical piece, usually a comedy, the dialogue of which is intermingled with light or satirical songs, set to familiar airs.

The early vaudeville, which is the forerunner of the opera bouffe, was light, graceful, and piquant.

Vaude"ville, n. Loosely, and now commonly, variety (see above), as, to play in vaudeville; a vaudeville actor.

||Vaude"ville (?), n. [F., fr. Vau-de- vire, a village in Normandy, where Olivier Basselin, at the end of the 14th century, composed such songs.] [Written also vaudevil.]

1. A kind of song of a lively character, frequently embodying a satire on some person or event, sung to a familiar air in couplets with a refrain; a street song; a topical song.

2. A theatrical piece, usually a comedy, the dialogue of which is intermingled with light or satirical songs, set to familiar airs.

The early vaudeville, which is the forerunner of the opera bouffe, was light, graceful, and piquant.

Vaude"ville, n. Loosely, and now commonly, variety (see above), as, to play in vaudeville; a vaudeville actor.

• A style of theatrical entertainment, also known as variety, which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s.