Gallant
Gallant (gal"lant) , adjective
[French gallant, prop. p. pr. of Old French galer to rejoice, akin to Old French gale amusement, Italian gala ornament; of German origin; compare Old High German geil merry, luxuriant, wanton, German geil lascivious, akin to Anglo-Saxon gāl wanton, wicked, Old Saxon gēl merry, Gothic gailjan to make to rejoice, or perh. akin to English weal. See Gala, Galloon.]
1.
Showy; splendid; magnificent; gay; well-dressed.
The town is built in a very gallant place.
Our royal, good and gallant ship.
2.
Noble in bearing or spirit; brave; high-spirited; courageous; heroic; magnanimous; as, a gallant youth; a gallant officer.
That gallant spirit hath aspired the clouds.
The gay, the wise, the gallant, and the grave.
Gallant (?; 277) , adjective
Polite and attentive to ladies; courteous to women; chivalrous.
Gallant (?; 277) , noun
1.
A man of mettle or spirit; a gay, fashionable man; a young blood. — Shakespeare
2.
One fond of paying attention to ladies.
3.
One who wooes; a lover; a suitor; in a bad sense, a seducer. — Addison
In the first sense it is by some orthoepists (as in Shakespeare) accented on the first syllable.
Gallant , transitive verb
1.
To attend or wait on, as a lady; as, to gallant ladies to the play.
2.
To handle with grace or in a modish manner; as, to gallant a fan. [Obsolete] — Addison