▪ I. gallant, a. and n.
(ˈgælənt, gəˈlænt)
Forms: 4–6 galaunt(e, 5–8 galant(e, 5–6 Sc. galland, 6 gallante, -aunt, -aunde, 6– gallant.
[a. F. galant (recorded from the 14th c.), pa. pple of OF. galer to make merry, make a show, (connected with gale merrymaking = It., Sp. gala; see gale n.2 and gala). The early senses of the adj. in Fr. are: ‘dashing, spirited, bold’ (obsolete in Fr., but the source of the prevailing sense in mod.Eng.); ‘gay in appearance, handsome, gaily attired’; and ‘fitted for the pleasures of society, attractive in manners, courteous, polished’. The last of these gave rise in mod.Fr. to the specialized senses ‘politely attentive to women’, and ‘amorous, amatory’, which were adopted into Eng. in the 17th c., and are usually distinguished by the accentuation gaˈllant. The It. galante, courteous, honourable, and Sp. galante, gaily dressed, sprightly, galan, galano gaily dressed, seemed to have been adopted from French. The use as n., which is recorded in Eng. somewhat earlier than the adjectival use, was adopted from Fr., in which language all the senses of the n. had been developed.
The origin of the OFr. verb. galer is disputed. The view of Diez, that it was f. the OHG. geil = ME. gole, wanton, is now abandoned, as the normal Central French form on that supposition should begin with j; the form galer (for which waler occurs as a variant) points to an original initial w. Hence most recent scholars regard the vb. as ad. OHG. wallôn to wander, go on pilgrimage; but the transition of sense offers difficulties that are not fully cleared up.]
A. adj.
1. a. Gorgeous or showy in appearance, finely-dressed, smart. arch.
| c 1420 Lydg. Assemb. Gods 296 Then was there set the god Cupido, All fresshe & galaunt & costlew in aray. 1508 Fisher 7 Penit. Ps. cxxx. Wks. (1876) 203 By wantonesse of wordes, by wanton lokes, galant apparayle of thy body, [etc.] 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utop. ii. (1895) 132 The houses be curiously builded, after a gorgiouse and gallaunt sort. 1578 T. N. tr. Conq. W. India 139 The Mexican brought..garments of Cotten exceeding gallant. 1589 R. Robinson Gold. Mirr. (Chetham Soc.) 2 And in a galland garden stood this famous Dame. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. lxxi. 302 On the top of the stalke standeth a most gallant flower verie double. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres ii. i. 20 He shall alwaies go gallant and well armed. 1617 Markham Caval. vi. 35 The brauelier will your horses maine or taile curle, and the gallanter it will appeare to the beholders. 1665–76 Rea Flora 75 It beareth the biggest, doublest, and gallantest flower of all the double Daffodils. 1671 Lond. Gaz. No. 544/3 She appeared extraordinary rich and gallant, being adorned with great quantities of Pearls, and other precious stones. 1794 Burns Song, Young Jamie, Young Jamie, pride of a' the plain, Sae gallant and sae gay a swain. 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. iii. iv. (1849) 164, I must confess these gallant garments were rather short. 1897 Daily News 30 Mar. 5/3 The Lord Mayor of Dublin, accompanied by the High Sheriff and the Town Clerk, gallant in scarlet robes, ermine trimmed. |
† b. Of language: Full of showy expressions, ornate, specious. Obs.
| 1484 Caxton Chivalry 77 The armes with whiche lecherye warreth chastyte ben yongthe beaulte queynt vestures and galaunt falshede. 1552 Huloet, Gaye or galaunt speach, phaleratus sermo. |
c. Mus. = galant a.
| 1925 Musical Q. XI. 356 (title) The ‘gallant’ style of music. Ibid., Gallant, the secular homophonous style of courtly, amatory and dramatic music whose evolution during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries runs nearly parallel with that of rococo architecture. |
† 2. Of women: Fine-looking, handsome. Obs.
| 1552 Huloet, Galaunt wench, bellula. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 51 This gallant girle, more faire then fortunate, and yet more fortunate then faithful. 1613 Withers Abuses Stript & Whipt ii. ii, Some gallant Lasse along before him sweeps. ? 1650 Don Bellianis 173 The gallant Princess Persiana. |
† 3. Suited to fashionable society; indulging in social gaiety or display; attractive in manners, polished, courtier-like. Obs.
| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xix. 6 Gif I be galland, lusty and blyth. 1548 Latimer Ploughers (Arb.) 25 Thei hauke, thei hunt, thei card, they dyce, they pastyme in theyr prelacies with galaunte gentlemen. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. i. (1879) 98 He is but a beast that..would abstaine from such gallant pastyme. |
| absol. 1645 Waller Of her Chamber 15 The Gay, the wise, the gallant, and the grave. |
4. a. loosely, as a general epithet of admiration or praise: Excellent, splendid, ‘fine’, ‘grand’. Cf. brave a. 3. Now rare exc. with mixture of sense 1 or 5.
| 1539 Taverner Erasm. Prov. (1552) 24 Nothynge is so galaunt, so excellent, that can longe content the mynde. 1623 Bingham Xenophon 84 It was a gallant sight, to behold the army standing so imbattelled in the field. 1641 French Distill. v. (1651) 124 A few drops..put into any Wine giveth it a gallant relish. 1649 J. H. Motion to Parl. Adv. Learn. 16 Our Accademies..teach..the gallantest Theories of knowledge. 1662 R. Mathew Unl. Alch. §33. 29 He presently fell asleep, and also into a gallant breathing sweat. 1676 J. Cooke Marrow Chirurg. 819 Camphore..given in cooling Juleps..is gallant to quench violent heat in Malign Fevers. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 78 Here was also a stable of gallant horses. 1812 Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 185 A fox was run on Saturday..in a very gallant style. 1851 Thackeray Eng. Hum. iv. (1858) 174 They played for gallant stakes—the bold men of those days. |
b. often used as an admiring epithet for a ship: ‘Noble’, stately; now usually with mixture of sense 5 and some notion of personification.
| 1583 Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 21 Three gallant vessels. 1610 Shakes. Temp. v. i. 237 Our royall, good, and gallant Ship. 1757 Gray Bard ii. ii, In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes. 1790 Cowper My Mother's Pict. 88 A gallant bark from Albion's coast. 1838 Prescott Ferd. & Is. II. ii. iv. 450 A more gallant and beautiful armada never before quitted the shores of Spain. 1868 Gladstone Juv. Mundi ii. (1870) 55 We may consider the name of the ship Argo as meaning..‘stout’, able to do battle with the waves, as we now say a good or a gallant ship. |
5. a. Chivalrously brave, full of noble daring.
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iv. iv. 26 And there is my Lord of Worcester, And a Head of gallant Warriors, Noble Gentlemen. 1597 ― 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 68. 1611 Coryat Crudities 236 Like a peerelesse Monarch garded with many legions of the gallantest Worthies. 1663 Butler Hud. i. ii. 249 The gallant Bruin march'd next him. 1713 Steele Guardian No. 18 ¶6 Our galant countryman, Sir Philip Sydney. 1769 Junius Lett. xv. 64 These gallant, well-disciplined troops. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & Fall III. 172 The gallant answer which checked the arrogance of that ambitious prince. 1845 S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. III. 639 He..had all the parts and qualities of a gallant soldier. 1859 Smiles Self-Help i. (1860) 10 The gallantest of British sea⁓men. 1868 Milman St. Paul's 426 Sherlock made a gallant defence. |
| quasi-adv. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. i. ii. 25 (Qo.) A louer that kils himselfe, most gallant [1623 gallantly], for loue. |
b. Used, esp. in parliamentary language, as the conventional epithet of a military or naval officer.
| 1875 Lucy Diary Two Parl. (1885) I. 49 The gallant captain always begins to address the House in a breathless, gasping manner. Ibid. 81 The hon. and gallant gentleman. |
6. (Usually gaˈllant). Markedly polite and attentive to the female sex.
| a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) I. 216 Th' antique Sage, that was gallant t'a Goose. 1728–46 Thomson Spring 584 The gay troops begin In gallant thought to plume the painted wing. 1732 Pope Ep. Bathurst 307 Gallant and gay in Cliveden's proud alcove, The bow'r of wanton Shrewsbury and love. 1754 Richardson Grandison (1781) VI. xxiv. 137 Sir Charles fell immediately into the easiest (shall I say the gallantest?) the most agreeable conversation. 1798 Jane Austen Northang. Abb. xiii, The general attended her himself to the street-door, saying everything gallant as they went down stairs. |
7. (Usually gaˈllant.) Of or pertaining to (sexual) love, amorous, amatory. Now somewhat rare.
| 1673 Dryden Marr. à la Mode iii. i, The Billets doux..are so French, so gallant, and so tendre. 1724 Swift Corinna 29 Her common-place book all gallant is..She pours it out in Atalantis. 1774 Chesterfield Lett. (1792) I. lxvi. 185 A little gallant history, which must contain a great deal of love..the subject must be a love affair. 1849 Ticknor Span. Lit. II. xxix. 529 note, Some of the contents of which are too gallant to be very nun-like. |
8. Comb., as gallant-hearted, gallant-minded adjs.; † gallant-springing a., ‘growing up in beauty’ (Schmidt).
| 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, i. iv. 227 When gallant springing braue Plantagenet..was strucke dead by thee. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres Pref. 5 All gallant minded gentlemen. 1848 Dickens Dombey xxxii, His hopes of the generous, handsome, gallant-hearted youth..began to fade. |
B. n.
1. a. A man of fashion and pleasure; a fine gentleman. (Sometimes with added notion of A. 5.) arch.
| 1388 Pol. Poems (Rolls) I. 274 Galauntes [are] purs penyles. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas v. xxv. (1554) 138 b, Thei toke a galaunt, borne of lowe linage, Called Prompalus..And affirmed..how he was sonne and iust heire in substance To Epiphanes. 1513 Douglas æneis ix. iii. 200 Ilkane ane hundreth fallowys reddy boun Of ȝoung gallandis. 1598 R. Barckley Felic. Man (1631) 662 Though the gallants think thee rude, because in all things thou doest not imitate them. 1627 Drayton Agincrt. ccxciv, That braue French Gallant, when the fight began, Whose lease of Lackies ambled by his side, Himselfe a Lacky now most basely ran. 1633 Bp. Hall Hard Texts 608 All the stout gallants of Judæa do roare and lament. 1645 Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 168 The streets are full of gallants. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. Introd. 89 Brave Galants do my Pilgrim hug and love. 1719 D'Urfey Pills V. 349 Ye Side-Box Gallants, whom the vulgar call Beaus. 1789 Burns Song Poet Wks. (Globe) 251 My Harry was a gallant gay. 1810 Scott Lady of L. i. iv, And many a gallant, stayed per-force, Was fain to breath his faltering horse. 1828 ― F.M. Perth ii, The young gallants of the Royal Court. 1874 Green Short Hist. vii. §5. 389 Gallants gambled away a fortune at a sitting. |
† b. Of a woman: A fashionably attired beauty. Obs.
| c 1550 Lusty Juventus C iv b, Now by the masse I perceyue that she is a gallaunde. 1606 Dekker Sev. Sinnes Induct. (Arb.) 8 Thou [London] that wert before the only Gallant and Minion of the world. 1662 Pepys Diary 4 Sept., She would fain be a gallant. |
† 2. a. Used in the vocative as a courteous mode of address, esp. in plural; = ‘Gentlemen’. Also with playful or semi-ironical tone, as in this gallant = ‘this fine fellow’. Obs.
| c 1470 Henry Wallace viii. 1022 Had we ȝon gallandis doun, On the playn ground, thai wald mor sobyr be. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxii. 477 Reynawde called ten of his folke and sayd to theym, ‘Galantes [Fr. Barons], goo fet me the duke rychard’. 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. iii. 21 Then suddanelie my keipar to me said, Ascend galland. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 41 God morrow Gallants, want ye Corn for Bread? 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. ii. vi. 162 Whereby the indifferent Reader may perceiue with what prepared hatred, and prepensed malice this Gallant was affected. 1669 Dryden Tyrannic Love Epil. 11 Gallants, look to 't. 1714 Pope Epil. to ‘Jane Shore’ 24 Faith, gallants, board with saints, and bed with sinners. 1810 Scott Lady of L. v. xvii, Exclaim not, gallants! question not. |
† b. pl. One's (military) followers. Obs.
| 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 1526 Galba, whom his galantys garde for agaspe. 1555 J. Proctor Hist. Wyat's Rebell. in Arb. Garner VIII. 49 Being roughly charged therewith by Wyat and others his gallants. |
3. (Sometimes gaˈllant.) One who pays court to ladies, a ladies' man. Now somewhat rare. Also, a lover; in a bad sense, a paramour.
| a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 65 He toke alle her iuellys and rynges that was geuen her by galauntys forto haue had her to do foly. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. ii. i. 22 One that is well-nye worne to peeces with age To show himselfe a yong Gallant. 1664 Chas. II in Julia Cartwright Henrietta of Orleans (1894) 153 A handsome face without mony has but few galants, upon the score of marriage. 1691 Dryden K. Arthur Epil. 41 And he that likes the music and the play Shall be my favourite gallant today. 1708 Brit. Apollo No. 31. 3/2 And loose a Gallant by resenting a kiss. 1733 H. Walpole Lett. to Mann (1857) VI. 20 Pride was their mother, and whoever she laid them to, Hypocrisy was her galant. 1774 Goldsm. Retal. 65 His gallants are all faultless, his women divine. ― Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 290 When the female [pigeon] admits the addresses of a new gallant. 1875 Fortnum Majolica vii. 63 Small plates..which it was then the fashion for gallants to present, filled with preserves or confetti, to ladies. 1886 A. Arnold in Academy 18 Dec. 404 How few nowadays use the word ‘gallant’ to describe a lady's man. |
¶ 4. Given by Gerarde as the name of a kind of Anemone.
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal Table Eng. Names, Gallant, that is Anemone, Windflower. a 1667 Skinner Etymol. Bot., Gallant, Anemone, sic dicta ob eximiam florum pulchritudinem. |
† 5. Naut. A name formerly applied to ‘all flags borne on the mizen-mast’ (Adm. Smyth). Obs.
▪ II. gallant, v.
(gəˈlænt, ˈgælənt)
[f. the adj.]
I. (? stressed ˈgallant.)
1. intr. To play the gallant or dandy, to ‘cut a dash’. Also to gallant it. rare.
| 1608 Machin Dumb. Knt. i. B 3 b, Be patient wench, and thou shalt shortly see me gallant it with the best. 1888 W. D. Lighthall Yng. Seigneur 74 As Papal Zouave, he embarked for Rome to gallant in voluminous trousers on four sous a day. |
† 2. trans. To make gallant or fine, to deck out in a showy manner. Obs.
| 1614 J. Cooke Tu Quoque I 3 b, Enter Bubble gallanted. Bub. How Apparell makes a man respected; the very children in the streete do adore mee. |
II. (Usually stressed gaˈllant.)
3. intr. To play the gallant, flirt, dally with. Also to gallant it.
| 1744 E. Heywood Female Spectator (1748) I. 97 She..gallants it with every pretty fellow she comes in company with. 1749 Garrick Lethe i. Wks. 1798 I. 17 I'll lay six to four that he has been gallanting with some of the beauties of antiquity. 1809 M. Edgeworth Manœuvring x, Captain Jemmison went on shore to..spend his time in great dissipation..eating, dressing, dancing, gallanting. 1859 Sala Tw. round Clock (1861) 71 Now we are in Horace Walpole's time, and the macaroni-cynic of Strawberry Hill is gallanting in the Mall with Lady Caroline Petersham. 1888 Snodgrass Heine's Wit, etc. (ed. 2) 208 Nor..did he gallant with the crowned relatives of the Cæsars. |
| transf. 1762 Stevenson Crazy Tales 27 A Horse gallanting with a Mare. 1847 Blackw. Mag. LXII. 666 Small must have been the population, when these..great inexpressibles, gallanted with the ladies' large hoop farthingales. |
b. To gad about idly, ‘gallivant’. Sc.
| 1804 W. Tarras Poems 143 In kirk-yard drear they may gallant, An' mak his turf their fav'rite haunt. 1822 Galt Steam-boat vii. 141 It is..believed..that the witches are in the practice of gallanting over field and flood..in the shape of cats and mawkins. 1825–80 Jamieson s.v., Women who gad about idly, and with the appearance of lightness, in the company of men, are said to gallant with them. |
4. trans. To play the gallant to (a woman), pay court or lover-like attentions to, flirt with.
| 1672 J. Lacy Dumb Lady iii. 37, I find the Doctor has a mind to gallant me. 1769 Misc. in Ann. Reg. 168/1 Abbes are always gallanting the ladies. 1817 M. Edgeworth Harrington (1832) 151 He was gallanting the Polish lady. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xvi. iii. VI. 165 That young Durchlaucht..whom we saw gallanting the little girl..some years ago. 1883 A. Dobson Fielding vii. 181 When he visits a friend or gallants the ladies. |
| transf. 1717 Cibber Non-Juror ii, He us'd to make the Maids lock up the Turky-cocks every Saturday Night, for fear they should gallant the Hens on a Sunday. c 1850 Arab. Nts. (Rtldg.) 11 The cock..was gallanting one of his hens. |
† b. To caress (a hand) gallantly. Obs.
| 1672 Dryden Assignation iii. i, I have tried every bar [of the grate] many a fair time over; and at last have found out one, where a hand may get through, and be gallanted. |
5. esp. To act as cavalier or escort to (a lady), to attend or conduct (her) to some place.
| 1690 Crowne Eng. Friar i. 4 Young Ranter talks to her, gallants to her coach, follows her home. 1728 Vanbr. & Cib. Prov. Husb. iii. i, The ladies..wanted you to help gallant them. 1814 Miss Mitford in L'Estrange Life (1870) I. 280 The..House of Commons, where we were gallanted by half a dozen members. 1872 Geo. Eliot Middlem. I, Ladislaw gallants her about sometimes. |
b. In a wider sense: To conduct, escort, convey.
| 1806 W. Irving in Life & Lett. (1864) I. 170 Show this scrawl to nobody, but gallant it, as quick as possible, to the fire. 1807–8 ― Salmag. (1824) 196 His first care, on making a new acquaintance, is to gallant him to old Cockloft's. 1817 Lady Granville Lett. (1894) I. 119 Mr. Agar Ellis, whom I invited, carried there, and gallanted about. 1841 Catlin N. Amer. Ind. (1844) II. xxxvii. 46 The one [buffalo] which I saw fit to gallant over the plain alone..led me a hard chase. 1854 Hawthorne Eng. Note-bks. (1883) I. 441 The little black steamer..sometimes gallanting a tall ship in and out. |
† 6. to gallant a fan. a. (See quot. a 1700). b. (? a misapprehension.) To handle or manipulate a fan. Obs.
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Gallant a Fan, to break it with Design, on Purpose to have the..Favour to Present a better. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 102 ¶ 10, I teach young Gentlemen the whole Art of Gallanting a Fan. N.B. I have several little plain Fans made for this Use, to avoid Expence. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) V. 303 Charlotte galanting her fan, and swimming over the floor without touching it. 1754 ― Grandison (1811) III. iv. 24 Galanting her fan. |
Hence gallanting vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1664 Butler Hud. ii. i. 644, I rather hop'd I should no more Hear from you o' th' gallanting score. 1707 Reflex. upon Ridicule 133 Amours, Adventures, gallanting Stories. 1715 M. Davies Athen. Brit. I. 21 The Gallanting Pamphlet stiled The Pastime of Pleasure. 1797 Monthly Mag. III. 537 He was of a gallanting turn, although he only made love to old ladies. 1819 J. H. Vaux Mem. II. 30 She would, by artful gallanting with a gentleman, facilitate my design upon his pockets. 1830 Galt Lawrie T. ii. xi. (1849) 77 To spend money in such gallanting was a thing I had never thought of. 1869 Latest News 10 Oct. 6 Young men who do their gallanting away from the city. |