Gallanting

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To act with bravery and nobility while displaying adventurous spirit in one's endeavors
2. To exhibit courageous and chivalric behavior as one partakes in daring adventures
3. Showing a bold and noble demeanor while engaging with challenges

Etymology: Gallanting is the present participle of "gallant," and the root word arrived in English in the 17th century, borrowed from French "galant," which meant courteous, dashing or brave. That French sense grew from the verb "galer," meaning to rejoice or make merry, and from a noun "gale" that signified pomp, show or festivity. The deepest roots are uncertain: one candidate is a Frankish word for "good" or "well," linked to English "well," while another is a Frankish word for "merry" or "proud" that is related to modern German "geil." That second candidate carries a surprising twist. In German today "geil" means lustful or randy, and the Dutch cognate has the same sense, so the same ancestry that gave English a word for brave, courtly bearing also gave continental cousins a word for wanton excess. Early English "gal," meaning wanton or wicked, is a related form in the same family. The participle "gallanting" follows the verb "gallant," so its sense of riding off on daring adventures is an extension of that original idea of showy, spirited bravery.

Synonyms: courting, wooing