volant, a. and n.
(ˈvəʊlənt)
Also 6 wolant.
[a. F. volant, pres. pple. of voler, also as n.; or ad. L. volant-, volans, pres. pple. of volāre to fly. Cf. also It., Sp., Pg. volante. In 1 b and 3 placed after the noun.]
A. adj.
† 1. a. Riding at full gallop. Obs. rare.
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 57 They ranne volant one as fast as he might ouertake the other. Ibid. 58 b, After that y⊇ king & his aides had performed their courses, thei ranne volant at al commers. [Hence in Holinshed and Baker.] |
† b. Mil. So constituted as to be capable of rapid movement or action. (Cf. flying ppl. a. 4 d.)
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 167 b, Certain Frenchmen..came before Alexandrie & there kept a siege volant. 1560 Maitland in E. Russell Maitland of L. (1912) ii. 57 For lack of money the camp volant cannot continue. 1577 Holinshed Hist. Scot. 479/1 in Chron. I, The French army in Scotland..determined with a siege volant to keepe the Englishmen in Hadington from vitayles and all other reliefe. 1617 Moryson Itin. ii. 160 Out of these Regiments was raised a squadron volante (or flying Regiment) which onely was to answere Alarums. Ibid. 176 Sir Henrie Powers squadron volant (or flying Regiment). 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. ii. xxi. (1821) 415 The Regiment volant (commanded by Sir Harvie Power). 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. vi. §268 He sent Charles Cavendish.., with a Party Volant of Horse and Dragoons, into Lincolnshire. |
† c. Hovering between two sides. Obs.—1
| a 1734 North Examen i. ii. §25 (1740) 42 He was not, like the Party volant, waiting for Profers to determine him. |
† 2. volant piece, an addition to the front of a helmet as a protection for the face, used especially in tournaments. Obs.
| 1509–10 in Meyrick Anc. Armour (1824) II. 251 These four knights shall present themselves..in harneys for the tylt without tache or breket, wolant pece on the hedde [etc.]. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 123 To whiche coyffe or bassenet neuer armorer taketh hede, for it is euermore couered with the viser, barbet and volant pece. [1824 Meyrick Anc. Armour II. 263 The grand-guard, volant piece and gard de bras were put on with nuts which rendered pincers necessary.] |
3. Her. Of birds, etc.: Represented as flying; having the wings expanded as if in flight.
Many special varieties, as volant descendant, displayed, expansed, etc., are explained in Berry's Encycl. Herald. (c 1828) I. Gloss.
| 1572 J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 29 b, R. beareth Sable and Argente..two Faucons volante, and a Greyhounde cursante. 1599 R. Linche Fountain Anc. Fiction F iij b, Downe from his shoulders depended a vestement, wherein was curiously proportioned the head of Medusa,..on the one side of him were placed certaine Eagles volant. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. xxiii. 172 Heere also you see one gesture of a Fowle⁓volant. 1684 Lond. Gaz. No. 1980/4 A Coat of Armes being a Faulcon volant between 3 Mullets with distinction of a half Moon. 1728 Chambers Cycl., Volant, in Heraldry, is when a Bird in a Coat of Arms is drawn flying, or having its Wings spread out. 1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 143/2 Birds, according to their attitudes, are blazoned Volant, Displayed, Preying, etc. 1864 Boutell Her. Hist. & Pop. iii. (ed. 3) 66 Az. three butterflies volant or. |
4. a. Flying; able to fly, capable of flight.
| 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 385 This is the onely four-footed Beast that's volant. 1698 Phil. Trans. XX. 167 As to the Fire-Flies,..I take them to be a Glow-Worm Volant. 1708 Brit. Apollo No. 90. 3/1 With Engine fatal to the Volant Kind. 1759 Johnson Rasselas vi, I have considered the structure of all volant animals. 1789 Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France I. 366 A kind of volant beetle. 1822 T. Taylor Apuleius 300 In every part of the world there are animals adapted to the several parts, the volant living in the air, and the gradient on the earth. 1830 Fraser's Mag. I. 222 The volant, bright-plumaged birds of heaven. 1876 Farrar Marlb. Serm. xv. 142 Then shall thousands of volant angels bear us down upon their wings. |
| fig. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. v. i. §50 English silver now was current, and our gold volant in the Popes Courts. 1789 E. Darwin Bot. Gard. ii. (1791) 60 The first..Weighs with nice ear the vowel, liquid, surd, And breaks in syllables the volant word. 1796 Burney Mem. Metastasio I. 351 Let me in volant thought Ideal bliss renew. 1818 Bp. J. Jebb Life & Lett. lxvii. 619 But, alas, my paper wings are very rarely volant. 1840 Mrs. Trollope in New Monthly Mag. LX. 40 A sort of volant admiration that seemed ready to take wing, and fly off in whatever direction he might please to indicate. 1898 Meredith Poems, Napoleon i. 11 Reverberant notes and long blew volant Fame. |
b. transf. Connected with flying.
| 1748 Richardson Clarissa VI. 3 But here,..to carry on the volant metaphor.., is a pretty little Miss [etc.]. |
5. a. Of things: Passing rapidly through the air or space, as if by flight; floating lightly in the air.
| 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 639 Alexander the Great,..who..lanced himselfe in maner of a starre volant in the aire, leaping out of the East into the West. Ibid. 791 The intelligent nature of heaven, he [Plato] calleth, a Chariot volant, to wit, the harmonicall motion and revolution of the world. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. i. xii. 54 It may be thought that these fires volant proceed from sulphurous exhalations that rise out of the Earth. 1789 Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France II. 286 The volant shadows that cross our British hills. 1798 in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. (1799) II. 167 The eddying smoke, quick flame, and volant spark. 1813 T. Busby Lucretius II. iv. Comm. p. vii, The poet distinguishes the volant films of substances from other portions of bodies. 1831 Campbell View fr. St. Leonard's 75 Men's volant homes that measure liquid space On wheel or wing. 1840 F. Trollope Widow Married xxii. 150 She had always some volant ribbon or floating scarf to attend to and arrange. 1865 Athenæum 15 July 78/2 The car volant of Armida. |
b. Moving rapidly or lightly; active, nimble. Also fig. of discourse.
| 1650 Weldon Crt. Jas. I, 176 Now have I brought this great Kings Reign to an end, in a volant discourse, and shall give you his Character in briefe. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 561 His volant touch Instinct through all proportions low and high Fled and pursu'd transverse the resonant fugue. 1708 J. Philips Cyder ii. 75 Bards with volant touch Traverse loquacious strings. 1753 Richardson Grandison (1781) I. xxxvi. 251 Yes, my volant, my self-conducted quill, begin with the Sister. 1759 [H. Dalrymple] Woodstock (1761) 13 Their volant fingers o'er the chorded lyre, With modulating touch the artists ply. 1805 H. K. White Rem. (1825) 95, I could..in the caverns of the ocean flood, thrid the light mazes of thy volant foot. 1828 Lights & Shades II. 277 Those dexter fingers, such volant summoners of sound. 1897 Dowden French Lit. v. iii. 367 He knew how to wing his verses with a volent [sic] refrain. |
† c. Of colours: Changing, iridescent. Obs.—1
| 1616 Lane Contn. Sqr.'s T. xi. 204 note, All colors vauncd, save white,..with all new volant dies of gallant dresse. |
6. Characterized by, of the nature of, flight.
| 1818 Mrs. E. H. Iliff Corfu Poems (ed. 2) 98 The games, the race, the wrestlers meed; The discus urged with volant speed. 1831 Blackw. Mag. XXIX. 263 What godlike grace in that volant motion! 1863 Lyell Antiq. Man xxii. 446 A change from..volant to non-volant habits of living. 1891 C. E. Craddock In ‘Stranger People's’ Country xvi. 312 He turned to catch through the trees a flitting glimpse of her light dress, her volant attitude, as she sped silently and secretly back to the waiting group on the porch. |
7. Flounced; frilled. (Cf. sense 3 below.)
| 1902 Daily Tel. 2 Aug. 3/2 The seamed skirt..has the preference over the volant skirt. |
B. n.
† 1. to act, to keep (upon), the volant, to hover between two parties, sides, or opinions. Obs.
| a 1734 North Examen i. ii. §64. (1740) 63 And so they kept the Volant a good While, and did not declare on which Side they would fall. Ibid. iii. vi. §69. 474 The Dutch had acted the volant, and done enough, on the one Side or the other, to have kept the Fire alive. a 1734 ― Lives (1826) III. 336 He..chose to keep upon the volant, free to discourse and censure as he from time to time thought fit. |
2. = volant piece (see sense A. 2 above). rare—0.
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 714 Volant, a piece of steel on a helmet, presenting an acute angle to the front. |
3. A flounce or frill.
| 1851 Harper's Mag. Jan. 288/1 Five volants are set on full, each being trimmed at a little distance from the edge by a narrow guimpe. 1882 Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlew. 515/1 Volant, the French term denoting either a flounce, or a frill; both of which are descriptions of dress trimmings. 1908 Daily Chron. 17 June 6/5 Her muslin Empire dress had a deep white cloth ‘volant’. |
4. = volet 2.
| 1898 Daily News 14 July 6/2 The most interesting of the late acquisitions is the pair of volants or shutters to Lionardo's Holy Family. |
Hence ˈvolantly adv., in a volant manner.
| 1876 J. Ellis Caesar in Egypt 98 Two seraphs hovering o'er the fragile ark, Its puny canvas fanning volantly. |