different between gallant vs cocky

English

Alternative forms

• gallaunt (obsolete)

Etymology 1

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”), from Proto-Germanic *wal-, from Proto-Indo-European *welh?- (“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 g?l (“wanton; wicked; bad”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??æl?nt/
• Rhymes: -æl?nt

Adjective

gallant (comparative more gallant, superlative most gallant)

1. brave, valiant.
2. honorable.

   • Captain Edward Carlisle […] felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, […]; he could not tell what this prisoner might do. He cursed the fate which had assigned such a duty, cursed especially that fate which forced a gallant soldier to meet so superb a woman as this under handicap so hard.

3. grand, noble.
4. (obsolete) Showy; splendid; magnificent; gay; well-dressed.

   • This town [is built in a very gallant place.

Related terms

• gallantly
• gallantry

Translations

Etymology 2

From French

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???lænt/, /??æl?nt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /???l?nt/, /??æl?nt/
• Rhymes: -ænt

Adjective

gallant (comparative more gallant, superlative most gallant)

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

Translations

Noun

gallant (plural gallants)

1. (dated) A fashionable young man who is polite and attentive to women.
   • 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 1 scene 2

     PROSPERO: […] this gallant which thou see'st / Was in the wrack; and but he's something stain'd / with grief,—that beauty's canker,—thou mightst call him / A goodly person […]

2. One who woos, a lover, a suitor, a seducer.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling

     […] they were discovered in a very improper manner by the husband of the gypsy, who, from jealousy it seems, had kept a watchful eye over his wife, and had dogged her to the place, where he found her in the arms of her gallant.

   • 1819, John Keats, Otho the Great, Act III, Scene II, verses 140–143

     The ignominy of that whisper’d tale / About a midnight gallant, seen to climb / A window to her chamber neighbour’d near, / I will from her turn off, […]

3. (nautical) topgallant

Translations

Verb

gallant (third-person singular simple present gallants, present participle gallanting, simple past and past participle gallanted)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To attend or wait on (a lady).

2. (obsolete, transitive) To handle with grace or in a modish manner.

References

• gallant in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Welsh

Alternative forms

• gallan (colloquial)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??a?ant/

Verb

gallant

1. (literary) third-person plural present/future of gallu

Mutation

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General New Zealand) IPA^(key): /?k?ki/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?k?ki/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /?k?ki/
• Rhymes: -?ki

Etymology 1

From cock (“male domestic chicken”) +? -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense of ‘having the quality of’).

Adjective

cocky (comparative cockier, superlative cockiest)

1. Overly confident; arrogant and boastful.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:arrogant

Alternative forms

• cockey
• cockie (rare)

Translations

Etymology 2

From cock (“male domestic chicken”) +? -y (diminutive suffix).

Noun

cocky (plural cockies)

1. (chiefly Britain, Ireland, colloquial, dated) Used as a term of endearment, originally for a person of either sex, but later primarily for a man.

Alternative forms

• cockey
• cockie

Translations

Etymology 3

The noun is derived from cock(atoo) +? -y (diminutive suffix). The verb is derived from the noun.

Noun

cocky (plural cockies) (chiefly Australia, New Zealand, informal)

1. A (familiar name for a) cockatoo.
2. (also attributively) Short for cockatoo farmer (“small-scale farmer”); (by extension) any farmer or owner of rural land.

   Synonyms: cockatoo, crofter

Usage notes

In New Zealand, cocky (sense 2) is often synonymous with sheep cocky (“a sheep farmer”), due to the relative importance of the industry.

Alternative forms

• cockey
• cockie

Derived terms

Verb

cocky (third-person singular simple present cockies, present participle cockying, simple past and past participle cockied)

1. (intransitive, chiefly Australia, informal, historical) To operate a small-scale farm.

   Synonym: cockatoo

Alternative forms

• cockey

Translations

References