• Gallant

    Pronunciation

    • IPA: /ˈɡælÉ™nt/
    • Rhymes: -ælÉ™nt

    Origin 1

    Alternative forms

    From Old French galant ("courteous, dashing"), present participle of galer ("make merry"), thought to be from Frankish *wala- ("good, well"), from Proto-Germanic *wal-, from Proto-Indo-European *(e)welǝ- ("to choose, wish").

    Full definition of gallant

    Adjective

    gallant

    1. Brave, valiant.
    2. Honorable.
      • 1910, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price Chapter 1, Captain Edward Carlisle...felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze,...; he could not tell what this prisoner might do. He cursed the fate which had assigned such a duty, cursed especially that fate which forced a gallant soldier to meet so superb a woman as this under handicap so hard.
    3. Grand, noble.
    4. (obsolete) Showy; splendid; magnificent; gay; well-dressed.

    Related terms

    Pronunciation

    • RP IPA: /ɡəˈlænt/, /ˈɡælÉ™nt/
    • US IPA: /ɡəˈlÉ‘nt/, /ˈɡælÉ™nt/
    • Rhymes: -ænt

    Origin 2

    From French

    Adjective

    gallant

    1. Polite and attentive to ladies; courteous to women; chivalrous.

    Noun

    gallant

    (plural gallants)
    1. (dated) Fashionable young man, who is polite and attentive to women.
      • 1610, , by William Shakespeare, act 1 scene 2PROSPERO: ... this gallant which thou see'st
        Was in the wrack; and but he's something stain'd /with grief,—that beauty's canker,—thou mightst call him
        A goodly person ...
    2. One who woos, a lover, a suitor, a seducer.
      • 1819, , Otho the Great, Act III, Scene II, verses 140-143The ignominy of that whisper’d taleAbout a midnight gallant, seen to climbA window to her chamber neighbour’d near,I will from her turn off, ...
    3. An animal or thing of grey colour, such as a horse, badger, or salmon.
      • Sir Walter ScottWoe worth the chase, woe worth the day,
        That costs thy life, my gallant grey.
    4. (nautical) topgallant

    Verb

    1. (obsolete, transitive) To attend or wait on (a lady).to gallant ladies to the play
    2. (obsolete, transitive) To handle with grace or in a modish manner.to gallant a fan
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