English Explanatory Dictionary

gallant

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Brave, valiant, courteous, especially with regard to male attitudes towards women.
  2. Honorable.
  3. Grand, noble.
  4. Showy; splendid; magnificent; gay; well-dressed.
adj
  1. Polite and attentive to ladies; courteous to women; chivalrous.
noun
  1. A fashionable young man who is polite and attentive to women.
  2. One who woos, a lover, a suitor, a seducer.
  3. A topgallant.
verb
  1. To attend or wait on (a lady).
  2. To handle with grace or in a modish manner.
  3. To conduct, escort, convey.
  4. To behave in a gallant fashion; to act the gallant.
name
  1. A surname.
  2. A census-designated place in Etowah County and St. Clair County, Alabama, United States, named after a pioneer settler.

Pronunciation

/ˈɡælənt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-gallant1.wav /ɡəˈlænt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-gallant2.wav /ɡəˈlɑnt/

Word forms

gallant more gallant most gallant gallaunt gallants gallanting gallanted

Etymology

From Middle English galant, galaunt, from Old French galant (“courteous; dashing; brave”), present participle of galer (“to rejoice; make merry”), from gale (“pomp; show; festivity; mirth”); either from Frankish *wala (“good, well”), a variant form of *wela, from Proto-Germanic *wela (whence well), from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“to choose, wish”); or alternatively from Frankish *gail (“merry; mirthful; proud; luxuriant”), from Proto-Germanic *gailaz (“merry; excited; luxurious”), related to Dutch geil (“horny; lascivious; salacious; lecherous”), German geil (“randy; horny; lecherous; wicked”), Old English gāl (“wanton; wicked; bad”).

Synonyms

blade blood masher barbermonger beau buck carpet knight cockscomb dandy dike dood dude dudelet exquisite fashionable fast man fine gentleman fop foretop fribble gallant go jack-a-dandy Jemmy-Jessamy jetter macaroni metrosexual mignon petit maître popinjay pretty boy prig puss-gentleman smart spark spiff swell tippy toff adulterer bed-hopper carpetmonger chamberer debauchee debaucher fornicator lecher lewdster libertine hood rat philanderer rake rantipole rizzler roué player seducer voluptuary wanton

Derived words

gallanthood gallantize gallantly gallantness gallantry gallant soldier supergallant ultragallant ungallant
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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