Editing Minuet (section)

{{Short description|Social dance and musical form}}
{{other uses}}
{{Redirect|Minuetto|the 1973 single by [[Mia Martini]]|Minuetto (song)}}
[[File:Minuet (PSF).png|thumb|Minuet in the [[classical period (music)|Classical period]]]]

A '''minuet''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|m|ɪ|nj|u|ˈ|ɛ|t}}; also spelled '''menuet''') is a [[social dance]] of French origin for two people, usually written in [[Triple metre|{{music|time|3|4}} time]] but always played as if in {{music|time|6|8}} ([[Compound meter (music)|compound]] [[duple metre]]) to reflect the step pattern of the dance. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. 

The term also describes the musical form that accompanies the dance, which subsequently developed more fully, often with a longer [[musical form]] called the '''minuet and trio''', and was much used as a [[Movement (music)|movement]] in the early classical [[symphony]]. While often stylized in instrumental forms, composers of the period would have been familiar with the popular dance.