Cantered

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To have moved in a comfortable and controlled manner often associated with a horse's gait that is faster than a trot and slower than a gallop
2. To have traveled at an easy pace characterized by a unique rhythm similar to a horse's canter that balances speed and comfort
3. To have progressed with a smooth and steady leg movement typical of a horse's pace between a trot and a gallop

Etymology: The horse's gait gets its name from a city. "Canter" is short for "Canterbury pace," a phrase that refers to the easy, rolling speed supposedly adopted by medieval pilgrims riding to the shrine at Canterbury. The idea is that a loping, comfortable gait suited people making a long journey on horseback, though the pilgrim story is a supposition rather than a documented fact. "Cantered" is the past form of "canter," so it describes a horse that has moved at that same three-beat, unhurried pace. The word's origin lies entirely in that shortening of the place-name phrase, with the "-er" ending of "canter" coming from the element "-er" that the source treats as part of the word's English formation.

Synonyms: galloped, trotted, jogged

Antonyms: walked, stopped