galliard

American  

[gal-yerd] / ˈgæl yərd /

Or gaillard

noun

1. a spirited dance for two dancers in triple rhythm, common in the 16th and 17th centuries.

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galliard British  

/ ˈɡæljəd /

noun

1. a spirited dance in triple time for two persons, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries

2. a piece of music composed for this dance

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adjective

1. archaic lively; spirited

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

A fantasia and a pavan and galliard by William Byrd were riveting.

From Washington Post • Jan. 15, 2017

They no more think of weaving whole paragraphs or chapters into complex harmonies, than an ordinary pedestrian of 'going to church in a galliard and coming home in a coranto.'

From Hours in a Library, Volume I. (of III.) by Stephen, Leslie, Sir

It was too much for the galliard merchant, and he swooned.

From Devil-Worship in France or The Question of Lucifer by Waite, Arthur Edward

I had a daughter once, a match fit for the bravest galliard that sun e'er shown upon.

From Traditions of Lancashire, Volume 2 by Roby, John

It seems the sort of thing a poet so habited might be expected to say between a galliard and a coranto.

From Gossip in a Library by Gosse, Edmund