charivari

English

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

Alternative forms

• shivaree, chivari, chivaree (US)

Etymology

From French charivari.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃɑːɹɪˈvɑːɹi/
• Rhymes: -ɑːɹi

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, published 2003, page 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

• rough music
• skimmington
• skimmity
• skimmity-ride

Related terms

• shivaree

Translations

mock serenade

• Dutch: ketelmuziek (nl)
• French: charivari (fr)
• Volapük: mimusig

cacaphonous noise, hubbub — see cacophony

Further reading

• charivari on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

FWOTD – 12 September 2020

Etymology

Inherited 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”) +‎ 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.

     Put ten people of sufficient intelligence in front of a new- and original-looking painting, and those ten people will act like children; they will elbow each other, and comment on the painting in the most ridiculous way imaginable. Passers-by will flock to them and make the group bigger; soon there will be absolute mayhem, a bout of mindless folly.

Descendants

• → Catalan: xivarri
• → English: charivari, shivaree, chivaree, chivari
• → German: Charivari

Further reading

• “charivari”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.