What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Gallant vs Brave - What's the difference?

gallant | brave |

In obsolete terms the difference between gallant and brave

is that gallant is showy; splendid; magnificent; gay; well-dressed while brave is having any sort of superiority or excellence.

As adjectives the difference between gallant and brave

is that gallant is brave, valiant while brave is strong in the face of fear; courageous.

As nouns the difference between gallant and brave

is that gallant is fashionable young man, who is polite and attentive to women while brave is a Native American warrior.

As verbs the difference between gallant and brave

is that gallant is to attend or wait on (a lady) while brave is to encounter with courage and fortitude, to defy.

gallant

English

Alternative forms

* gallaunt (obsolete)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) .

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Brave, valiant.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
    • That gallant spirit hath aspired the clouds.
  • Honorable.
  • *
    • Captain Edward Carlisle; he could not tell what this prisoner might do. He cursed the fate which had assigned such a duty, cursed especially that fate which forced a gallant soldier to meet so superb a woman as this under handicap so hard.
  • Grand, noble.
  • (lb) Showy; splendid; magnificent; gay; well-dressed.
  • * (John Evelyn) (1620-1706)
    • The town is built in a very gallant place.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
    • our royal, good and gallant ship
    Related terms
    * gallantly * gallantry

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Polite and attentive to ladies; courteous to women; chivalrous.

    • Noun

    (en noun)
  • (dated) Fashionable young man, who is polite and attentive to women.
  • * 1610 , , act 1 scene 2
    • PROSPERO: [...] this gallant which thou see'st / Was in the wrack; and but he's something stain'd /with grief,—that beauty's canker,—thou mightst call him / A goodly person [...]
  • One who woos, a lover, a suitor, a seducer.
  • * 1819 , , Otho the Great , Act III, Scene II, verses 140-143
    • The ignominy of that whisper’d tale
    About a midnight gallant , seen to climb
    A window to her chamber neighbour’d near,
    I will from her turn off,
  • An animal or thing of grey colour, such as a horse, badger, or salmon.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
    • Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, / That costs thy life, my gallant grey .
  • (nautical) topgallant

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To attend or wait on (a lady).
    • to gallant ladies to the play
  • (obsolete) To handle with grace or in a modish manner.
    • to gallant a fan

    References

    * English heteronyms ----

    brave

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Strong in the face of fear; courageous.
  • *1897 , (Bram Stoker), (Dracula), Chapter 21:
  • *:Do not fret, dear. You must be brave and strong, and help me through the horrible task. If you only knew what an effort it is to me to tell of this fearful thing at all, you would understand how much I need your help.
  • *1987 , Michael Grumley, The Last Diary :
  • *:he has been so brave , giving it all a dignity.
  • (label) Having any sort of superiority or excellence.
  • *(Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)
  • *:Iron is a brave commodity where wood aboundeth.
  • *(Samuel Pepys) (1633-1703)
  • *:It being a brave day, I walked to Whitehall.
  • Making a fine show or display.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:Wear my dagger with the braver grace.
  • * (1558-1592)
  • *:For I have gold, and therefore will be brave . / In silks I'll rattle it of every color.
  • *(Ralph Waldo Emerson) (1803-1882)
  • *:Frog and lizard in holiday coats / And turtle brave in his golden spots.
  • *
  • *:So this was my future home, I thought! Certainly it made a brave picture. I had seen similar ones fired-in on many a Heidelberg stein. Backed by towering hills,a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.

    • Synonyms

    * (courageous) doughty, orped, resilient, stalwart. See also

    Antonyms

    * (courageous) cowardly, fearful, mean, weak

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A Native American warrior.
  • A man daring beyond discretion; a bully.
  • * Dryden
    • Hot braves like thee may fight.
  • A challenge; a defiance; bravado.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Demetrius, thou dost overween in all; / And so in this, to bear me down with braves .

    Verb

  • To encounter with courage and fortitude, to defy.
  • * (rfdate), (John Dryden)
    • These I can brave , but those I can not bear.
  • * 1773 , A Farmer, Rivington's New-York Gazetteer , Number 53, December 2
    • but they [Parliament] never will be braved into it.
    After braving''' tricks on the high-dive, he '''braved a jump off the first diving platform.
  • (obsolete) To adorn; to make fine or showy.
  • * (rfdate), Shakespeare
    • Thou [a tailor whom Grunio was browbeating] hast braved meny men; brave not me; I'll neither be faced or braved.

    Derived terms

    * bravely * bravery * bravure 1000 English basic words ----