Home British & World English ranz-des-vaches

Definition of ranz-des-vaches in English:

ranz-des-vaches

(also ranz-de-vaches, rantz-de-vaches)

noun

Music

  • A type of Swiss melody, traditionally played on the Alpenhorn or sung in order to call cows scattered over the mountainside.

Origin

Late 18th century; earliest use found in Charles Burney (1726–1814), musician and author. From French regional (Switzerland) ranz des vaches from ranz, regional variant (Switzerland) of rang + des of the (plural) + the plural of vache cow, after German regional (Switzerland) Kuhreihen, lit. ‘cow dance’, apparently with the second element misapprehended as Reihe.

Pronunciation

ranz-des-vaches

/ˈrɒ̃(s)deɪˌvaʃ/ /ˈrɒn(s)deɪˌvaʃ/