Passamezzo

The passamezzo (plural: "passamezzi" or "passamezzos") is an Italian folk dance of the 16th and early 17th centuries.
Many pieces in named "passamezzo" follow one of two chord progressions that came to be named after the dance, passamezzo antico and passamezzo moderno.
Name.
There are many variant spellings. In Italian or international usage, the name is also rendered as "pass'e mez(z)o", "passo e mezzo", and "passomez(z)o". In early English usage, the names frequently incorporated the word measure in a folk etymology, giving such renderings as "passemeasure", "passingmeasure", "passy-measures" or "passemeasure(s) pavan", particularly to designate the "passamezzo antico" progression. Passamezzi following the "passamezzo moderno" progression are designated "quadro pavan" or "quadran(t) pavan."