gallop

gallop · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*wel-“death in battle, killed in battle”
2. Frankish · derived from*walhlaup“battle run”
3. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*klaup-
4. Proto-Germanic · derived from*hlaupaną“to run, leap, spring”
5. Frankish · derived from*wala hlaupan“to run well”
6. Old French · derived fromgaloper
7. Middle English · derived fromgalopen“to gallop”
8. English todaygallop

From Middle English galopen (“to gallop”), from Old French galoper (compare modern French galoper), from Frankish *wala hlaupan (“to run well”), from *wala (“well”) + *hlaupan (“to run”), from Proto-Germanic *hlaupaną (“to run, leap, spring”), from Proto-Indo-European *klaup-, *klaub- (“to spring, stumble”). Possibly also derived from a deverbal of Frankish *walhlaup (“battle run”) from *wal (“battlefield”) from a Proto-Germanic word meaning "dead, victim, slain" from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“death in battle, killed in battle”) + *hlaup (“course, track”) from *hlaupan (“to run”). More at well, leap, valkyrie. See also the doublet wallop, coming from the same source through an Old Northern French variant.

Gallop · proper noun²

English surname, variant of Gallup.

Words from the same roots