A fixed form used mostly in light or witty verse, usually consisting of fifteen octo- or decasyllabic lines in three stanzas, with only two rhymes used throughout. A word or words from the first part of the first line are used as a (usually unrhymed) refrain ending the second and third stanzas, so the rhyme scheme is aabba aabR aabbaR.
Sidelight: An example of the rondeau is the best-known poem from World War I, " In Flanders Fields," by Lt. Col. John McCrae.
Sidelight: The skillful writer of a rondeau, and similar forms, arranges the repetition of the refrain in such a way that it seems to come naturally, without being forced.
(Compare Rondel, Rondelet, Roundel, Triolet, Villanelle)
(See also Chain Verse, Envelope)

This definition is in context to Poetry. See more contextual defintions for Rondeau (Rahn-doe).