different between gallant vs suave

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 suave, borrowed from Latin su?vis (“sweet, pleasant”); doublet of sweet.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /sw??v/
• (US) IPA^(key): /sw?v/, /swe?v/
• Rhymes: -??v, -e?v

Adjective

suave (comparative suaver, superlative suavest)

1. Charming, confident and elegant.

Derived terms

• outsuave
• suavely
• suaveness

Translations

Noun

suave (plural suaves)

1. Sweet talk.

Translations

References

• Paternoster, Lewis M. and Frager-Stone, Ruth. Three Dimensions of Vocabulary Growth. Second Edition. Amsco School Publications: USA. 1998.

Anagrams

• Sauve, Vause, uveas

French

Etymology

From Middle French suave, from Latin su?vis (“sweet, pleasant”), replacing the inherited souef, from Old French soef, suef (“sweet, mild, agreeable, tranquil, peaceful”), which was supplanted in form and meaning during the 17th cent. together with its derivatives, and survives only in the dialects.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s?av/

Adjective

suave (plural suaves)

1. (especially of persons and their speech) smooth and graceful, polite, polished, suave

References

• von Wartburg, Walther (1928–2002) , “suavis”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 120, page 325
• “suave” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /su?a.ve/, [s?u?ä?ve?], (in fast speech) /?swa.ve/, [?s?wä?ve?]
• Rhymes: -ave
• Hyphenation: su?à?ve

Adjective

suave (plural suavi)

1. (literary) Archaic form of soave.

Derived terms

• suavità

References

• suave in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti

Latin

Etymology 1

Adverbial use of the neuter singular adjective.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?su?a?.u?e/, [?s?u?ä?u??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?sva.ve/, [?zv??v?]

Adverb

su?ve (not comparable)

1. sweetly, becomingly, pleasantly

   Synonym: su?viter

Etymology 2

Adjective

su?ve

1. nominative neuter singular of su?vis
2. accusative neuter singular of su?vis
3. vocative neuter singular of su?vis

References

• suave in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• suave in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin su?vis (“sweet, pleasant”).

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /?swa.v?/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /su.?a.vi/, /?swa.vi/
• Hyphenation: su?a?ve
• Rhymes: -avi

Adjective

suave m or f (plural suaves, comparable)

1. soft, smooth

   Synonyms: macio, liso

2. gentle, mild
3. (Brazil, slang) fine, okay

Derived terms

• suavizar

Related terms

• suavidade
• suavizante

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin su?vis (“sweet, pleasant”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?swabe/, [?swa.??e]

Adjective

suave (plural suaves)

1. smooth, soft, fluffy

   Antonym: áspero

2. soft, gentle, light, mild (e.g. mild flavor, a mild winter)

3. suave (charming, confident and elegant)

   Synonyms: terso, blando, liso

   Antonyms: áspero, duro

4. cool, acceptable, easy

Derived terms

• manjar suave
• suavemente
• suavísimo
• suave como el culito de un bebé
• suavecito
• suavizante
• suavizar

Related terms

• suavidad
• suavo

Further reading

• “suave” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.