Gallant
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈɡælənt/
- Rhymes: -ælənt
Origin 1
Alternative forms
- gallaunt obsolete
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)welÇ- ("to choose, wish").
Full definition of gallant
Adjective
gallant
- Brave, valiant.
- William Shakespeare (1564-1616)That gallant spirit hath aspired the clouds.
- 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.
- Grand, noble.
- (obsolete) Showy; splendid; magnificent; gay; well-dressed.
- John Evelyn (1620-1706)The town is built in a very gallant place.
- William Shakespeare (1564-1616)our royal, good and gallant ship
Pronunciation
- RP IPA: /ɡəˈlænt/, /ˈɡælənt/
- US IPA: /ɡəˈlɑnt/, /ˈɡælənt/
- Rhymes: -ænt
Origin 2
From French
Adjective
gallant
- Polite and attentive to ladies; courteous to women; chivalrous.
Noun
gallant
(plural gallants)- (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 ... - 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, ...
- 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. - (nautical) topgallant