gallant

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 12, 2021 is: gallant \GAL-unt\ adjective

1 : showy in dress or bearing : [smart](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smart)

2 a : [splendid](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/splendid), [stately](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stately)

b : [spirited](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spirited), [brave](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brave)

c : nobly chivalrous and often self-sacrificing

3 : courteously and elaborately attentive

Examples:

"But travel-stained though he was, he was well and even richly attired, and without being overdressed looked a gallant gentleman." — [Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge, 1841](https://www.google.com/books/edition/TheStPetersburgEnglishReviewofLite/m70IAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22he+was+well+and+even+richly+attired%22&pg=PA477&printsec=frontcover)

"A gallant collection of four seniors, one junior and one freshman combined to score 268 of the Bruins' 278.5 points in their surge to second place in the team standings." — [Mike Tupa, The Bartlesville (Oklahoma) Examiner-Enterprise, 27 Feb. 2021](https://www.examiner-enterprise.com/story/sports/2021/02/27/bartlesville-high-swimming-boys-catapult-to-2nd-girls-show-grit/6838270002/)

Did you know?

Gallant exists in modern English primarily as an adjective, but it entered the language first as a noun. In the 14th century, when tales of [Camelot](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Camelot) populated the mythology of English speakers, a gallant was a young man of fashion—imagine perhaps a young and smartly dressed Arthur or Lancelot. The word had been borrowed in the forms galaunt and gallaunt from Middle French, the ultimate source being Middle French galer, a verb meaning "to squander in pleasures, have a good time, enjoy oneself." Galer also bestowed upon English the adjective gallant, which joined the language in the 15th century. A verb gallant meaning "to pay court to a lady" entered the language in the late 17th century as a derivative of the English adjective, but it is rarely encountered today.