gallant

CEFRC1

/ɡəˈlænt/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Brave, polite, and respectful toward others.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Grand, noble.

Examples

  • The bridal guests assembled in gallant troops from distant quarters.

  • All the soldiers were gallant.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Brave, valiant, courteous, especially with regard to male attitudes towards women.

  2. Showy; splendid; magnificent; gay; well-dressed.

  3. Polite and attentive to ladies; courteous to women; chivalrous.

More examples

In context

  • He is a very gallant gentleman.

  • to gallant ladies to the play

  • to gallant a fan

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The blank knight rescued the princess from the dragon without any fear.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

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”).