different between gallant vs courtly

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

Etymology

From Middle English courtly, equivalent to court +? -ly.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?k??tli/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?k??tli/

Adjective

courtly (comparative courtlier, superlative courtliest)

1. Befitting of a royal court; reflecting the manners or behaviour of people at court.

   Synonyms: refined, dignified, genteel, well-mannered

   • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act III, Scene 2,^[1]

     Corin: You have too courtly a wit for me; I’ll rest.

   • 1682, Aphra Behn, The Roundheads, or, The Good Old Cause, London: D. Brown et al., Act III, Scene 1, p. 23,^[2]

     […] you must give men of Quality leave to speak in a Language more Gentile and Courtly than the ordinary sort of mankind.

   • 1715, Alexander Pope, The Iliad of Homer, London: Bernard Lintott, Volume 1, Book 3, Observations, p. 11,^[3]

     He is a Master of Civility, no less well-bred to his own Sex than courtly to the other.

   • 1850, Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, Volume 1, Chapter 17, p. 183,^[4]

     As they abased themselves before him, Mr. Micawber took a seat, and waved his hand in his most courtly manner.

   • 1947, Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano, New York: New American Library, 1965, Chapter 1, p. 11,^[5]

     Their voices, the gestures of their refined grimy hands, were unbelievably courtly, delicate. Their carriage suggested the majesty of Aztec princes, their faces obscure sculpturings on Yucatecan ruins.

2. Of or relating to a royal court.
   • a. 1627, John Beaumont, “Horat. Lib. 2. Sat. 6.” in Bosworth-Field with a Taste of the Variety of Other Poems, London: Henry Seile, p. 40,^[6]

     in houres secure from courtly strife

   • 1776, Thomas Paine, Common Sense, Philadelphia, p. 40,^[7]

     The rich are in general slaves to fear, and submit to courtly power with the trembling duplicity of a spaniel.

   • 1857, Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers, London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts, Volume 1, Chapter 3, p. 30,^[8]

     He had for years held some clerical office appertaining to courtly matters, which had enabled him to live in London,

3. (obsolete) Overly eager to please or obey.

   Synonyms: flattering, obsequious, servile

   • 1763, Charles Churchill, The Duellist, London: G. Kearsly et al., Book 3, p. 29,^[9]

     Here FLATT’RY, eldest born of guile,

     Weaves with rare skill the silken smile,

     The courtly cringe, the supple bow,

     The private squeeze, the Levee vow,

   • 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, Volume 2, Chapter 7, p. 152,^[10]

     That judgment James had notoriously obtained […] by dismissing scrupulous magistrates, and by placing on the bench other magistrates more courtly.

Derived terms

• courtlily
• courtliness

Related terms

• courteous
• courtlike

Translations

Adverb

courtly (comparative more courtly, superlative most courtly)

1. In the manner of a royal court; in a manner befitting of a royal court.

   Synonym: courtlily

   • 1598, Robert Greene, The Scottish Historie of James the Fourth, London, Act I, Scene 1,^[11]

     Then will I deck thee Princely, instruct thee courtly,

     And present thee to the Queene as my gift.

   • 1673, John Dryden, The Assignation, London: Henry Herringman, Act II, Scene 3, p. 17,^[12]

     […] where, in the name of wonder, have you learn’d to talk so courtly?

   • 1766, Elizabeth Griffith, The Double Mistake, London: J. Almon et al., Act I, Scene 3, p. 12,^[13]

     Very courtly and correctly spoken on all sides, my lord;

   • 1980, Anthony Burgess, Earthly Powers, New York: Simon & Schuster, Chapter 74, p. 661,^[14]

     The driver waited courtly by the open doors of the saloon.