polka. Bohem. dance which originated in the early 19th-cent. and quickly spread throughout Europe. It was a round dance in quick duple time, with steps on the first 3 half-beats of the measure and a sort of rest on the 4th. Introduced to Prague 1837, Vienna and St. Petersburg 1839, Paris 1840, and London 1844. The mus. bears some resemblance to that of the Schottische, and a particular kind was, in fact, called Schottische bohème (or Polka tremblante). One of the first uses of the Polka in art-mus. was by Smetana in The Bartered Bride.

pol·ka / ˈpō(l)kə/ • n. a lively dance of Bohemian origin in duple time. ∎  a piece of music for this dance or in its rhythm.• v. (pol·kas, pol·kaedor pol·ka'd, pol·ka·ing) [intr.] dance the polka.

polka Lively Bohemian folk dance. It became fashionable in Paris in the 1940s, and thereafter in Europe and the Americas. It is sometimes performed as a ballroom dance.

polka XIX. — G., F. polka — Czech, identical with the word meaning ‘Polish woman’. Cf. MAZURKA.