different between gallant vs swain
gallant
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)
- brave, valiant.
- 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.
- grand, noble.
- (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)
- Polite and attentive to ladies; courteous to women; chivalrous.
Translations
Noun
gallant (plural gallants)
- (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 […]
- 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 1 scene 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, […]
- 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
- (nautical) topgallant
Translations
Verb
gallant (third-person singular simple present gallants, present participle gallanting, simple past and past participle gallanted)
- (obsolete, transitive) To attend or wait on (a lady).
- (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
- (literary) third-person plural present/future of gallu
Mutation
gallant From the web:
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swain
English
Alternative forms
- swaine, swein (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English swayn, swain, sweyn, swein, from Old English swe?en (attested also as personal name Swein, Swe?en), from Old Norse sveinn, from Proto-Germanic *swainaz (“relative, young man, servant”), from Proto-Indo-European *swé (“oneself; separate; apart”), thus properly one's own. Cognate with Danish svend (“hireling, young man”), Norwegian svein (“lad, young man, servant”) Icelandic sveinn (“boy, lad, servant”), Swedish sven (“swain, servant”), Low German Sween, dialectal German Schwein, Old English sw?n (“swineherd, lad”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /swe?n/
- Rhymes: -e?n
Noun
swain (plural swains)
- (obsolete) A young man or boy in service; a servant.
- (obsolete) A knight's servant; an attendant.
- (archaic) A country labourer; a countryman, a rustic.
- (poetic) A rural lover; a male sweetheart in a pastoral setting.
- 2016 Zack Woods (as Donald "Jared" Dunn), "Founder Friendly", Silicon Valley episode 19
- You're the belle of the ball, and these are all your swains, hoping for a glimpse of ankle.
- 2016 Zack Woods (as Donald "Jared" Dunn), "Founder Friendly", Silicon Valley episode 19
Derived terms
- boatswain
- coxswain
- swaining
- swainling
Translations
Anagrams
- Sawin, Wains, inaws, iwans, saw in, wains
swain From the web:
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