Etymology: < French galant (recorded from the 14th cent.), past participle of Old French galer to make merry, make a show, (connected with gale merrymaking = Italian gala , Spanish gala ; see gale n.² and gala n.¹). The early senses of the adjective in French are: ‘dashing, spirited, bold’ (obsolete in French, but the source of the prevailing sense in modern English); ‘gay in appearance, handsome, gaily attired’; and ‘fitted for the pleasures of society, attractive in manners, courteous, polished’. The last of these gave rise in modern French to the specialized senses ‘politely attentive to women’, and ‘amorous, amatory’, which were adopted into English in the 17th cent., and are usually distinguished by the accentuation gaˈllant. The Italian galante, courteous, honourable, and Spanish galante, gaily dressed, sprightly, galan, galano gaily dressed, seemed to have been adopted < French. The use as noun, which is recorded in English somewhat earlier than the adjectival use, was adopted < French, in which language all the senses of the noun had been developed. The origin of the Old French verb galer is disputed. The view of Diez, that it was from the Old High German geil = Middle English gole adj., wanton, is now abandoned, as the normal Central French form on that supposition should begin with j; the form galer (for which waler occurs as a variant) points to an original initial w. Hence most recent scholars regard the verb as < Old High German wallôn to wander, go on pilgrimage; but the transition of sense offers difficulties that are not fully cleared up.

Etymology: < gallant adj.