tango meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

tango

noun

UK /ˈtæ̞ŋɡəʊ̯/ · US /ˈtæ̝ŋɡoʊ̯/

Etymology Borrowed from Rioplatense Spanish tango, probably from a Niger-Congo language (compare Ibibio tamgu (“to dance”)).

Dance, Dancing, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A standard ballroom dance in 4/4 time; or a social dance, the Argentine tango.

Dance, Dancing, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A Spanish flamenco dance with different steps from the Argentine.

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music A piece of music suited to such a dance.

A dark orange colour shade; deep tangerine

Derived terms: electrotango, horizontal tango, neotango, tangoist, tangolike, tango uniform, wango tango

verb

Etymology Borrowed from Rioplatense Spanish tango, probably from a Niger-Congo language (compare Ibibio tamgu (“to dance”)).

To dance the tango.

Slang To mingle or interact (with each other).

Creamy cheese, tangy-sweet peppers, and a hit of heat tango in this sexy deviled-egg combo.2013, Kathy Casey, D'Lish Deviled Eggs, page 67:

noun

Etymology From translingual Tango (representing the letter T), from English tango (see above).

Alternative letter-case form of Tango from the NATO/ICAO Phonetic Alphabet.

International standards

Tango down!
The two tangoes running toward the carnage at the prison door dropped simultaneously, dead in their tracks.2005, Charles W. Sasser, Detachment Delta: Operation Aces Wild, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 370:

2 more examples

Knight, your flight plan is set. It'll be a two-hour trip to the tango, flying tea-kettle.2015 November 23, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, “Dulcinea”, in The Expanse, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Ade Nygaard (Kristen Hager):
The sharp crack of breaking glass preceded Emily's calm voice. "One tango dead and Marcus is down, John."2017, Beth Rhodes, Strike Zone, →ISBN, page 210:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.