Also 8 cherrade. [a. F. charade (18th c.), of doubtful origin. Littré (Suppl.) derives from Pr. charrada long talk or chatter, f. charrà to chatter, babble, Norm.-Fr. charer (Scheler); Skeat compares Sp. charrada speech or action of a clown, a dance, a showy thing made without taste, f. charro churl, peasant.]
A kind of riddle, in which each syllable of the word to be guessed, and sometimes the word itself also, is enigmatically described, or (more recently) dramatically represented (acted charade). Extended also to similar sportive trials of skill, as dumb charades, numbered charades, etc. Also attrib.
1776. Mrs. Boscawen, in Mrs. Delany’s Lett., Ser. II. II. 238. Pray send me some charrades … but I shall not guess them as you do.
1777. Sheridan, Sch. Scand., I. i. I back him at a rebus or a charade against the best rhymer in the kingdom.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair (1878), II. xvi. 173. The performers disappeared to get ready for the second charade-tableau. Ibid., li. (1853), 428. The amiable amusement of acting charades had come among us from France.
1878. Geo. Eliot, Coll. Breakf. P., 87. The universe, I hold, is no charade, No acted pun, unriddled by a word.
