rumba n.

type of Afro-Cuban dance, also a ballroom dance based on it, the rhythm of it, and the music suitable for it; 1914 ("La Rumba" was the name of a popular tango melody from 1913), from Cuban Spanish rumba, originally "spree, carousal," derived from Spanish rumbo "spree, party," earlier "ostentation, pomp, leadership," perhaps originally "the course of a ship," from rombo "rhombus," in reference to the compass, which is marked with a rhombus. The verb is recorded from 1932. Related: Rumbaed; rumbaing.