English
gallivant
Gallivant comes from English gallant ‘wooing women’.
- English1500–presentgallant‘wooing women’
- Englishearliest quotation 1914gallivant
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- English1500–presentgallant‘wooing women’
- Englishearliest quotation 1914gallivant
Earliest quotation: 1914, Eleanor H. Porter: “Bertram, it is true, when he heard of the…”
The story
1809, from gallant (‘wooing women’), originally in sense “to flirt”, broadened to mean “roaming without plan”.
Every English word from English gallant
Today it means
verb To roam about for pleasure without any definite plan.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / English gallant / gallivant