gallant

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɡælənt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English galaunt,^[2][3][4][5] from Old French galant (“courteous; lively, bold”),^[2][3][6][4] the present participle of galer “to make merry, rejoice”,^{[2][3][6][4][5]} which is of uncertain origin.^[3][6] It is perhaps of Germanic origin, from Frankish *wala (“good, well”),^[2][6][5] and related to gala.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a noun, a dissolute man or rake (1388).^[3][6] As an adjective, showy or finely dressed (about 1420).^[7][3][6]

Semantic evolution

The adjective first described fine clothes and a showy appearance,^[7][6] then splendour in general, as of a stately ship.^[7][4] The sense of chivalrous bravery is from 1596.^[7] The sense of being politely attentive to women was adopted from French in the early 17th century,^[6] and the attempt to distinguish it by stressing the second syllable is an 18th-century artifice.^[6] In British parliamentary language gallant became the conventional epithet of a military officer (1875).^[7]

Timeline

• 1388 – noun, a dissolute man.^[3][6]
• about 1420 – showy, finely dressed.^[7][3]
• 1448 – noun, a man of fashion.^[3][6]
• 1595 – gallantry, fine appearance.^[3]
• 1596 – chivalrously brave.^[7]
• early 17th century – attentive to women.^[6]
• 1672 – verb, to court a woman.^[7][4]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Brave and spirited; valiant or nobly resolute.
2. Courteously attentive, especially to women; chivalrous.
3. Stately or grand.
4. Smartly or showily dressed; dashing.
5. Amorous or flirtatious.

Noun

1. A fashionable young man.
2. A man attentive to women; a suitor or paramour.

Verb

1. To court a woman or act as her escort.

Word family

• gallantly
• gallantry
• ungallant

Related words

• gallivant
• gala
• topgallant

Usage notes

Random House gives valorous, courageous, heroic, bold, daring and intrepid as synonyms of the first sense and refers to brave for a discussion.^[5] Merriam-Webster notes that the sense “attentive to women” is usually stressed on the second syllable and the others on the first.^[4]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press