gallant

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈɡælənt/ UK /ˈɡælənt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
brave and noble; chivalrously attentive to women

The gallant officer rescued the children from the burning house.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · brave and noble;... brave chivalrous courageous valiant heroic courteous dashing

Opposites

cowardly cravendiscourteous

Word family

Forms gallantly

Derived forms gallantlygallantry

Simplified etymology

Gallant entered Middle English with the sense “finely dressed,” from Old French galant, “celebrating,” which derived from gale, “pleasure” or “rejoicing.” It later meant splendid, noble, or attractive; the sense “politely attentive to women” was adopted from French in the 17th century.

Etymology

From Old French 'galant' ('courteous, festive'), present participle of 'galer' ('to make merry'), of Germanic origin.

galant Old French galer Old French

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# gallant

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈɡælənt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɡælənt/

## Meanings
1. brave and noble; chivalrously attentive to women

## Examples
- The gallant officer rescued the children from the burning house.

## Synonyms
- brave
- chivalrous
- courageous
- valiant
- heroic
- courteous
- dashing

## Antonyms
- cowardly
- craven
- discourteous

## Derived Forms
- gallantly
- gallantry

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: galant
- Root: galer

## Etymology
From Old French 'galant' ('courteous, festive'), present participle of 'galer' ('to make merry'), of Germanic origin.

## AI Etymology
Gallant comes from Old French 'galant' ('courteous, festive'), present participle of 'galer' ('to make merry'), of Germanic origin. The participial history matters: an older ongoing or agentive verbal form is preserved in English as the word's lexical shape. In present use, it is used as a adjective and noun meaning "brave and noble; chivalrously attentive to women", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The wider English family includes derivatives such as gallantly and gallantry, showing how the same historical material continues to organize neighboring vocabulary. The named historical forms include Old French galant and Old French galer, keeping the history tied to concrete forms rather than a loose resemblance. Its semantic neighborhood is marked by brave, chivalrous, courageous, and valiant on one side and contrasts such as cowardly, craven, and discourteous on the other, locating the modern specialization without adding a new origin story.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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