galliard
Americannoun
noun
-
a spirited dance in triple time for two persons, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries
-
a piece of music composed for this dance
adjective
Etymology
Origin of galliard
1525–35; < Middle French gaillard, noun use of adj.: lively, vigorous (> Middle English gaillard, late Middle English galyarde ), probably < Gallo-Romance *galia < Celtic (compare MIr gal warlike ardor, valor); see -ard
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A fantasia and a pavan and galliard by William Byrd were riveting.
From Washington Post • Jan. 15, 2017
On the broad terrace in front some of them are dancing a galliard.
From Collected Poems Volume Two by Noyes, Alfred
I would he had been a precisian instead of a galliard, and I should have had better heart to aid thy revenge.
From The Fair Maid of Perth Or, St. Valentine's Day by Scott, Walter, Sir
He remarks on the 'excellent constitution' of Sir Andrew's leg, 'it was formed under the star of a galliard.'
From Shakespeare and Music With Illustrations from the Music of the 16th and 17th centuries by Naylor, Edward W. (Edward Woodall)
Your knighthood shall conceive," said the mediciner, "that this smith doth not live within compass, but is an outlier and a galliard.
From The Fair Maid of Perth Or, St. Valentine's Day by Scott, Walter, Sir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
