Etymograph

English

gallop

Gallop comes from Middle English galopen ‘to gallop’, from Frankish *wala hlaupan ‘to run well’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *klaup-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*klaup-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hlaupaną‘to run, leap, spring’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*wala hlaupan‘to run well’reconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400galoper‘to gallop’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500galopen‘to gallop’
  6. Englishearliest quotation a. 1631gallop

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*klaup-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hlaupaną‘to run, leap, spring’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*wala hlaupan‘to run well’reconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400galoper‘to gallop’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500galopen‘to gallop’
  6. Englishearliest quotation a. 1631gallop

Earliest quotation: a. 1631, John Donne: “Gallop lively down the western hill.”

The story

Possibly also derived from a deverbal of Frankish *walhlaup (‘battle run’) from *wal (‘battlefield’) from a Proto-Germanic word meaning "dead, victim, slain" from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (‘death in battle, killed in battle’) + *hlaup (‘course, track’) from *hlaupan (‘to run’).

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *hlaupaną ‘to run, leap, spring’

leap, loop, lope, 3 more

through Frankish *wala hlaupan ‘to run well’

wallop, 2 more

Today it means

noun The fastest gait of a horse, a two-beat stride during which all four legs are off the ground simultaneously.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *klaup- / gallop

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