gallivant English · revision 1350

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɡæl.ɪ.vænt/ ''(UK)''; /ˈɡæl.ɪ.vænt/, /ˌɡæl.əˈvænt/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is of uncertain origin,^(Etymonline) perhaps a humorous alteration of [[gallant]] in its old verb sense “to play the gallant, flirt, gad about”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) The American Heritage Dictionary suggests the influence of ''levant'' “to run away to avoid paying debts”.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To gad about in pursuit of pleasure, especially with the opposite sex (1809 in Etymonline;^(Etymonline) 1819 in Barnhart;^(Barnhart 1995) 1823 in the OED and Merriam-Webster).^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word first implied flirting or roaming with the opposite sex,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) as in an 1809 song in which a wife accuses her husband of going off “to gallivant”.^(Etymonline) It is now used more generally of roaming about for pleasure.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1608 – ''gallant'', verb, to play the gallant.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1809 – ''gallivant''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1823 – recorded in the OED.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To roam about in search of pleasure or amusement; to [[gad]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To go about with members of the opposite sex; to [[flirt]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[gallivanter]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gallant]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}