Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Beguine"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Beguine \Be`guine"\, n. [F. b['e]guine; LL. beguina, beghina;
fr. Lambert le B[`e]gue (the Stammerer) the founder of the
order. (Du Cange.)]
A woman belonging to one of the religious and charitable
associations or communities in the Netherlands, and
elsewhere, whose members live in beguinages and are not bound
by perpetual vows.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
Beguine
n 1: (Roman Catholic) a member of a lay sisterhood (one of
several founded in the Netherlands in the 12th and 13th
centuries); though not taking religious vows the sisters
followed an austere life [syn: {Beguine}]
2: music written in the bolero rhythm of the beguine dance
3: a ballroom dance that originated in the French West Indies;
similar to the rumba
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.