PAVAN', noun [Latin pavo, a peacock.] A grave dance among the Spaniards. In this dance, the performers make a kind of wheel before each other, the gentlemen dancing with cap and sword, princes with long robes, and the ladies with long trails; the motions resembling the stately steps of the peacock.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI