galante

Forms

galante m or f (masculine and feminine plural galantes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French galant.^[2][1][3] Corominas treats it as a doublet of galán and galano, which come from the same French word but appear earlier; at first it was used only before a noun beginning with a vowel, as a phonetic variant of the latter with the same meaning.^[4][5] Its present sense seems to have come from Italy, where the French word had been naturalised since the late 15th century.^[4]

The French word is the present participle of Old French galer (“to have fun, amuse oneself”), recorded in 1223, a verb of uncertain origin.^[5][6] Corominas suggests Frankish *wallan (“to boil, bubble”).^[4] The DHLF traces it to a Gallo-Romance verb from *wala (“well”), but notes Guiraud's view that a Germanic verb like the source Corominas proposes fits its sense of lively movement better.^[6] Wiktionary follows the derivation from the adverb.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Marqués de Santillana's Triumphete de amor (c. 1430), four horses draw a shining car by order of nobles donas galantes “noble, elegant ladies”.^[7][4] The sense is the same as that of galano, “fine, elegant”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word was rare until the 17th century.^[5] Cervantes still felt the modern sense as foreign: es hombre galante, como dizen en Italia “he is a gallant man, as they say in Italy”.^[4] The Diccionario de Autoridades defined it as generous and open-handed, and by analogy as fine or handsome, quoting Gabriel del Corral (1628).^[8][4] In 1817 the Academy defined it as attentive and courteous, and figuratively witty; by 1869 it had added “especially with ladies” and the sense of a lady fond of flirtation.^[9][10] The Academy derived it from galán in 1884;^[11] the current DLE gives French galant and adds the sense of a work of art that treats love with a touch of mischief.^[2] In the Dominican Republic, Bolivia and Paraguay the word is also a popular noun for a man who courts a woman.^[12]

Timeline

• c. 1430 – the Marqués de Santillana's Triumphete de amor.^[7][4]
• 1460–1463 – Juan de Tapia praises a lady's galantes sons.^[7]
• 1628 – Gabriel del Corral's Cintia de Aranjuez, the first text quoted by Autoridades.^[4][8]
• 1664 – the first record from the Americas, in Tucumán.^[13]
• 1817 – the Academy defines it as attentive and courteous.^[9]
• 1869 – the Academy adds “especially with ladies”.^[10]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary derives it from galán.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. gallant, courteous: attentive and obliging, especially towards women: Siempre fue galante con sus vecinas.^[2][1]
2. (of a woman) Fond of galanteos, of being courted.^[2]
3. (of a work of art) Treating a love story with picardía; erotic: una novela galante.^[2][14]
4. (rare) Departing from the customs considered morally proper.^[2]

Noun

1. (Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Paraguay; popular) A man who courts a woman, a suitor.^[12]

Word family

• galantemente
• galantería

Related words

• galán
• gala
• galano
• French galant

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. galante
3. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 7303
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 23
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. gala
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. galant
7. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. galante
8. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 6
9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 432
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 376
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 517
12. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. galante
13. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. galante
14. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. galante