Also 6 iant. [Of obscure origin; in 1 it appears to be more or less identical in sense with JAUNCE v.; but the phonetic relation is obscure: cf. JAUNCE sb.]
I. † 1. trans. (?) To make (a horse) prance up and down; to exercise or tire a horse by riding him up and down. Obs.
1570. B. Googe, Pop. Kingd., IV. 45 a. Then followeth Saint Stephens day, whereon doth euery man His horses iaunt and course abrode, as swiftly as he can.
1573. Tusser, Husb. (1878), 177. For euerie trifle leaue ianting thy nag, but rather make lackey of Jack boie thy wag.
1611. Cotgr., Iancer vn cheval, to stirre a horse in the stable till hee sweat withall: or (as our) to iaunt: an old word.
† 2. intr. (?) To prance. Obs. rare.
1598. Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. i. IV. Handy-crafts, 466. Th’ angry Steed … All side-long iaunts, on eyther side he justles, And’s waving Crest courageously he bristles.
† 3. trans. To carry up and down on a prancing horse; to ‘cart about’ in a vehicle. Obs. rare.
1574. J. Studley, trans. Bale’s Pageant Popes, VI. 126 b. He [Boniface VIII.] was set vpon an vnbroken coult with his face to the horse tayle, and so caused to ride a gallop and iaunted til he were breathlesse.
1818. Cobbett, Pol. Reg., XXXIII. 120. To get into a Grecian car, and to be drawn, with Minerva at his back … four or five miles through the streets of London … after having quietly suffered himself to be jaunted about in this manner [etc.].
† 4. intr. Of a person: To trot or trudge about (with the notion of exertion or fatigue); to run to and fro. Obs. or arch.
1575. Appius & Virginia, in Hazl., Dodsley, IV. 150. Why did I ride, run, and revel, And for all my jaunting now made a javel?
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., II. v. 53 (1st Qo.). Sending me about To catch my death with iaunting up and downe.
1706. Phillips, To Jaunt, to go, trot, or trudge up and down.
1771. Foote, Maid of B., III. Wks. 1799, II. 231. Running forwards and backwards to town, and jaunting to see all the fine sights.
1892. Baring-Gould, in Cornh. Mag., Oct., 337. The one omnibus jaunts about seeking travellers.
5. intr. To make a short journey, trip or excursion; to take a jaunt, now, esp., for pleasure. Also † jaunt it.
1647. R. Stapylton, Juvenal, x. 183. He, to his Moores … o’re the Pyren mountains jaunts.
1766. Garrick, in G. Colman’s Posth. Lett. (1820), 292. We are jaunting it for a few days.
1803. Eliza S. Bowne, in Scribner’s Mag. (1888), II. 178/1. I am most tired of jaunting.
1848. C. C. Clifford, trans. Aristophanes, Frogs, 37. He’d to the market jaunt.
1895. Daily News, 13 Feb., 5/5. The Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs [of Dublin] jaunting over to London with the petition presented themselves … at the door of the House.
II. Influenced by JAUNTY adj.
6. intr. To move jauntily: cf. JAUNT v.1 3. rare.
1890. R. Bridges, Shorter Poems, II. 8. Jaunt and sing outright As by their teams they stride.
Hence Jaunting vbl. sb., also used attrib.: cf. JAUNTING-CAR; Jaunting ppl. a.; Jauntingly adv., [from sense 6] jauntily.
a. 1616. Beaum. & Fl., Wit at sev. Weap., V. ii. ’Las I’m weary with the walk, My jaunting days are done.
1813. J. C. Hobhouse, Journey, 858. I have seen a circle of French gentlemen … after the manner of our jaunting citizens, amusing themselves with a Jew conjuror.
1840. Hood, Up the Rhine, 7. In hopes the jaunting about a bit will make her forget the loss of her husband.
1839. New Monthly Mag., LVI. 70. With his forage-cap jauntingly cocked over one eye.
