gallant means A surname. It carries an Arena rating of 1343, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, gallant ranks #1,974 of 14,297 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #2,737 of 14,445 for Most Beautiful Words, #3,423 of 14,361 for Most Ingenious Words, #7,084 of 14,414 for Most Elegant Words.
gallant is pronounced /ˈɡælənt/.
Why “gallant” is a great word
Brave, noble, and chivalrous, especially in a manner that is attentively courteous to women. From Middle English galant, from Old French galant ("courteous; dashing; brave"), the present participle of galer ("to rejoice, make merry"), likely from Frankish *gail ("merry; proud") or *wala ("good, well"), from Proto-Germanic roots. Unlike "chivalrous," which implies a formal, codified system of medieval honor, or "courteous," which denotes general politeness, "gallant" carries the specific charge of a bravery performed with style and a deliberate, romantic attentiveness. It is the sudden placing of a cloak over a puddle, the unhesitating step forward into a duel at dawn, and the slight, flawless bow that acknowledges not just a person but an ideal—a performance of grace under pressure that briefly holds chaos and vulgarity at bay.
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”).
name
- A surname.
- A census-designated place in Etowah County and St. Clair County, Alabama, United States, named after a pioneer settler.
adj
- Brave, valiant, courteous, especially with regard to male attitudes towards women.“That gallant spirit hath aspired the clouds.”
- Honorable.“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.
- Showy; splendid; magnificent; gay; well-dressed.“This town is built in a very gallant place.”
- Polite and attentive to ladies; courteous to women; chivalrous.“I admire all that quaint, old-fashioned politeness; it is much more to my taste than modern ease; modern ease often disgusts me. But this good old Mr. Woodhouse, I wish you had heard his gallant speeches to me at dinner. Oh! I assure you I began to think my caro sposo would be absolutely jealous.”
noun
- A fashionable young man who is polite and attentive to women.“PROSPERO: […] 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.“[…] they were discovered in a very improper manner by the husband of the gypsy, who, from jealousy it seems, had kept a watchful eye over his wife, and had dogged her to the place, where he found her in the arms of her gallant.”
- A topgallant.
verb
- To attend or wait on (a lady).“to gallant ladies to the play”
- To handle with grace or in a modish manner.“to gallant a fan”
- To conduct, escort, convey.“... and the canoes of Vivenza, locking their yard-arms into those of the vanquished, very courteously gallanted them into their coral harbors.”
- To behave in a gallant fashion; to act the gallant.“How different is the young, fun-loving, comical, quizzing, gallanting Captain Arthur Wellesley, when residing in his shooting lodge between Summerhill and Dangan, from the stern, cautious, careworn Fabius of the Peninsular war[.]”
Words closest in meaning
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