charivari

English
The cover of the first issue (1841) of the British satirical magazine Punch, or the London Charivari

Alternative forms

Etymology

From French charivari.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ʃɑːɹɪˈvɑːɹi/, /ʃɪvəˈɹiː/
  • Rhymes: -æri, -ɑːri, -iː

Noun

charivari (countable and uncountable, plural charivaris)

  1. The noisy banging of pots and pans as a mock serenade to a newly married couple, or similar occasion.
    • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 94:
      The marriage ceremony was given primordial significance over folkloric pre-marriage engagement rituals and wild charivaris.
  2. (by extension) Any loud, cacophonous noise or hubbub.

Synonyms

Translations
cacaphonous noise, hubbub — see cacophony

Further reading

French

Etymology

From Old French chalivali (“noise from pots and pans”), from Late Latin caribaria, from carivaria, from Ancient Greek καρηβάρεια (karēbáreia, “headache”), from κάρη (kárē, “head”) and βαρύς (barús, “heavy”).

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ʃa.ʁi.va.ʁi/
  • Audio(file)
  • Rhymes: -i

Noun

charivari m (plural charivaris)

  1. (historical) charivari, shivaree (mock serenade of discordant noise, notably to heckle a publicly reviled figure)
  2. (by extension) racket, banging in general, rumpus
    Synonym: chahut
    • 1893, Émile Zola, “Le public”, in Édouard Manet, étude biographique et critique, page 365:
      Mettez dix personnes d’intelligence suffisante devant un tableau d’aspect neuf et original, et ces personnes, à elles dix, ne feront plus qu’un grand enfant ; elles se pousseront du coude, elles commenteront l’œuvre de la façon la plus comique du monde. Les badauds arriveront à la file, grossissant le groupe ; bientôt ce sera un véritable charivari, un accès de folie bête.
      (please add an English translation of this quote)

Descendants

Further reading
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