subs. (old).—A DANDY (q.v.); a ladies’ man; a lover; a cuckold-maker, whether in posse or in esse (SHAKESPEARE).
1596. SHAKESPEARE, Merry Wives of Windsor, ii. 1. One that is well nigh worn to pieces with age, to show himself a young GALLANT! Ibid. (1598), 1 Henry IV., ii. 4. GALLANTS, lads, boys, hearts of gold, all the titles of good fellowship come to you.
1663. DRYDEN, The Wild GALLANT [Title].
c. 1696. B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew. GALLANT, a very fine man; also a Man of Metal, or a brave Fellow; also one that Courts or keeps, or is Kept by a Mistress.
1719. D’URFEY, Wit and Mirth; or Pills to Purge Melancholy, iv., 110. There’s never a GALLANT but sat at her hand.
1751–4. JORTIN, Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, iii., 15. As to Theodora, they who had been her GALLANTS when she was an actress, related that dæmons, or nocturnal spirits had often driven them away to lie with her themselves.
Adj. (old).—(1) Valiant; (2) showy; (3) amorous.
1719. D’URFEY, Wit and Mirth; or Pills to Purge Melancholy, i., 40. O London is a fine town, and a GALLANT city.
Verb. (old).—To sweetheart; to squire; to escort; to pursue or to enjoy.
TO GALLANT A FAN, verb. phr. (old).—To break with design, to afford an opportunity of presenting a better.—B. E. (1690).
