Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Smartly or boldly stylish; dashing.
  • adjective Unflinching in battle or action; valiant.
  • adjective Nobly or selflessly resolute.
  • adjective Stately; majestic.
  • adjective Courteously attentive especially to women; chivalrous.
  • adjective Flirtatious; amorous.
  • noun A fashionable young man.
  • noun A man courteously attentive to women.
  • noun A male lover, especially one who is courteously attentive.
  • intransitive verb To woo or pay court to (a lady).
  • intransitive verb To play the gallant.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Gay; fine; splendid; magnificent; showy as regards dress, ornamentation, or any external decorative effect.
  • Brave; high-spirited; heroic: as, a gallant officer.
  • Honorable; magnanimous; chivalrous; noble: as, a gallant antagonist.
  • (Also ga-lant′ .) In later use, courtly; polite; attentive to women; inclined to courtship; in a bad sense, amorous; erotic.
  • Synonyms Magnificent, brilliant.
  • Valiant, Courageous, etc. (see brave); bold, high-spirited, manful.
  • noun A gay, dashing person (rarely applied to a woman); a courtly or fashionable man.
  • noun An ardent, intrepid youth; a daring spirit; a man of mettle.
  • noun (Also ga-lant′ .) A man who is particularly attentive to women; one who habitually escorts or attends upon women; a ladies' man.
  • noun A wooer; a suitor; in a bad sense, a rake; a libertine.
  • noun Nautical, any flag carried at the mizzenmast.
  • To make gallant or fine; deck out.
  • To handle with grace or in a modish manner.
  • To play the gallant toward (a woman); attend or escort with deferential courtesy: as, to gallant a lady to the theater.
  • To make love; be gallant.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Polite and attentive to ladies; courteous to women; chivalrous.
  • noun A man of mettle or spirit; a gay, fashionable man; a young blood.
  • noun One fond of paying attention to ladies.
  • noun One who wooes; a lover; a suitor; in a bad sense, a seducer.
  • transitive verb To attend or wait on, as a lady.
  • transitive verb obsolete To handle with grace or in a modish manner.
  • adjective Showy; splendid; magnificent; gay; well-dressed.
  • adjective Noble in bearing or spirit; brave; high-spirited; courageous; heroic; magnanimous

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Very polite with women.
  • noun dated Fashionable young man, who is polite and attentive to women.
  • noun One who woos, a lover, a suitor, a seducer.
  • noun An animal or thing of grey colour, such as a horse, badger, or salmon.
  • noun nautical topgallant
  • verb obsolete, transitive To attend or wait on (a lady).
  • verb obsolete, transitive To handle with grace or in a modish manner.
  • adjective Brave, valiant.
  • adjective Honorable.
  • adjective Grand, noble.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective lively and spirited
  • adjective unflinching in battle or action
  • noun a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English galaunt, from Old French galant, present participle of galer, to rejoice, of Germanic origin; see wel- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French galant ("courteous, dashing"), present participle of galer ("make merry"), thought to be from Frankish *wala- (“good, well”), from Proto-Germanic *wal-.

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Examples

  • He goes on from splendor to splendor, makes peculiarly his own the title "gallant," and on a March day in '63, shouting "Forward!" and smiling at troopers in a charge, he falls from his horse with a fatal wound.

    LEE’S LIEUTENANTS DOUGLAS SOUTHALL FREEMAN 2001

  • He goes on from splendor to splendor, makes peculiarly his own the title "gallant," and on a March day in '63, shouting "Forward!" and smiling at troopers in a charge, he falls from his horse with a fatal wound.

    LEE’S LIEUTENANTS DOUGLAS SOUTHALL FREEMAN 2001

  • Mademoiselle Sophie appeared to be highly interested, and kept looking at me while her brother was speaking, and, although she did not join in the praises her mother lavished upon me for what she called my gallant conduct, evidently regarded me as a hero.

    Paddy Finn William Henry Giles Kingston 1847

  • "She didn't tell you to go that way," Max pointed out, in gallant defense of the demoiselle.

    French Word-A-Day: 2009

  • I don't like the tag of gallant losers but it was a magnificent effort.

    Blackburn Rovers 4-3 Newcastle United (aet) | Carling Cup match report 2011

  • "She didn't tell you to go that way," Max pointed out, in gallant defense of the demoiselle.

    gateau - French Word-A-Day 2009

  • "She didn't tell you to go that way," Max pointed out, in gallant defense of the demoiselle.

    French Word-A-Day: 2009

  • In the West, I heard almost no word of the war -- inter-collegiate sports were far more interesting and important, the only sympathy for Canada was pity for her loss in gallant sons and in treasure-the United States had no reason to enter the war, for no gun yet invented could carry a shell from the sea to the Mississippi.

    The United States and the League of Nations 1925

  • I resolved, therefore, to carry the village, which I soon did in gallant style with H. M.'s 50th and a detachment of the Honourable Company's 1st European Light Infantry under Captain Seaton and Lieutenant —.

    The Autobiography of Liuetenant-General Sir Harry Smith, Baronet of Aliwal on the Sutlej, G. C. B. 1903

  • All the while their horses covered the ground in gallant form.

    Winona: A Tale of Negro Life in the South and Southwest Pauline Elizabeth 1902

Comments

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  • The annoying thing about this as a car name was that the maker (Chrysler) insisted on the pronunciation being 'gal-LANT'.

    January 2, 2008

  • I thought the car name was spelled "Galant." Am I wrong? Signed, Too Lazy to Google and Find Out.

    January 2, 2008

  • Dunno. But I have this:

    "Alice Spring Police arrested a 21-year-old man in Stott Terrace early Saturday morning. Police apprehended the man's Chrysler Gallant about 2.25am. He was charged with exceed .08 per cent after he was found to be driving with a blood alcohol content of .103 per cent. He was also charged with unlicensed driving and driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle. He was bailed to appear in the Alice Springs Magistrates Court today."

    - Northern Territory Police website, 12 May 2003.

    January 2, 2008

  • Shares an origin with gala.

    May 31, 2022

  • I suspect that tickets for the Met Gallant might be easier to come across.

    May 31, 2022