Jaunty - Definitions from Dictionary.com

6 results for: Jaunty

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

jaun·ty

Audio Help [jawn-tee, jahn-] Pronunciation Key

–adjective, -ti·er, -ti·est.

1.	easy and sprightly in manner or bearing: to walk with a jaunty step.

2.	smartly trim, as clothing: a jaunty hat.

[Origin: 1655–65; earlier jentee, juntee < F gentil noble, gentle, genteel with ending taken as -y¹

]

—Related forms

jaun·ti·ly, adverb

jaun·ti·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Jaunty

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

jaun·ty Audio Help (jôn'tē, jän'-) Pronunciation Key
adj. jaun·ti·er, jaun·ti·est

Having a buoyant or self-confident air; brisk.
Crisp and dapper in appearance; natty.
Archaic
1. Stylish.
2. Genteel.

[French gentil, nice, from Old French, noble; see gentle.]

jaun'ti·ly adv., jaun'ti·ness n.

Word History: French not only gave us hundreds of words, it sometimes gave us the same word more than once. A prime example is Old French gentil, "high-born, noble." In the early 1200s, this was borrowed into Middle English and spelled as gentile, which later developed to mean "having the character of a nobleman, courteous," and, by the 1500s, "soft, mild." After some changes in spelling, the result was Modern English gentle. French gentil was borrowed again into English at the end of the 16th century, also in the spelling gentile and meaning "well-bred, belonging to or appropriate to the gentry." In the ensuing century it came also to mean "courteous, elegant," and continues to do so today as the word genteel. Since the spelling gentile did not accurately represent the word's French pronunciation, in the 17th century some people wrote it jantee or janty. This word took on a life of its own: while it originally meant "well-bred," by the 1670s it meant "easy or unconcerned in manner," and thence "spritely, lively, brisk." Thus was born jaunty. The French gentil that spawned these words comes from Latin gentīlis, which meant simply "belonging to (the same) gēns or family." It is from the original Latin meaning that we get the modern word gentile, borrowed in the 14th century (again through French) meaning, essentially, "belonging to the same family as all non-Jews."

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
jaunty

1662, "elegant, stylish," from Fr. gentil "nice, pleasing," from O.Fr. gentil "noble" (see gentle). Form reflects attempt to render Fr. pronunciation of gentil. Meaning "easy and sprightly in manner" first attested 1672.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

jaunty
adjective
1.	marked by up-to-dateness in dress and manners; "a dapper young man"; "a jaunty red hat" [syn: dapper]
2.	having a cheerful, lively, and self-confident air; "looking chipper, like a man...diverted by his own wit"- Frances G. Patton; "life that is gay, brisk, and debonair"- H.M.Reynolds; "walked with a jaunty step"; "a jaunty optimist" [syn: chipper]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
jaunty [ˈdʒoːnti] adjective

cheerful, bright, lively
Example: a jaunty mood/hat

Arabic:	مَرِح، أنيق
Chinese (Simplified):	洋洋得意的，时髦的
Chinese (Traditional):	洋洋得意的，時髦的
Czech:	uvolněný, živý; apartní
Danish:	frisk; livlig
Dutch:	kwiek
Estonian:	lõbus, rõõmus
Finnish:	hilpeä
French:	désinvolte
German:	munter
Greek:	κεφάτος, ζωηρός
Hungarian:	könnyed
Icelandic:	líflegur
Indonesian:	ceria
Italian:	diinvolto, sbarazzino

Japanese:	陽気な
Korean:	명랑한
Latvian:	mundrs; bezrūpīgs; dzīvespriecīgs
Lithuanian:	pakilus, prašmatnus
Norwegian:	kjekk, livlig, feiende
Polish:	wesoły
Portuguese (Brazil):	lépido
Portuguese (Portugal):	lépido
Romanian:	dezinvolt
Russian:	бойкий
Slovak:	veselý; elegantný
Slovenian:	živahen
Spanish:	alegre, garboso
Swedish:	hurtig, käck
Turkish:	şen şakrak; şık, gösterişli

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Jaunty

Gen"tle\, a. [Compar. Gentler; superl. Gentlest.] [OE. gentil, F. gentil noble, pretty, graceful, fr. L. gentilis of the same clan or race, fr. gens, gentis, tribe, clan, race, orig. that which belongs together by birth, fr. the root of genere, gignere, to beget; hence gentle, properly, of birth or family, that is, of good or noble birth. See Gender, and cf. Genteel, Gentil, Gentile, Gentoo, Jaunty.]

1. Well-born; of a good family or respectable birth, though not noble.

British society is divided into nobility, gentry, and yeomanry, and families are either noble, gentle, or simple. --Johnson's Cyc.

The studies wherein our noble and gentle youth ought to bestow their time. --Milton.

2. Quiet and refined in manners; not rough, harsh, or stern; mild; meek; bland; amiable; tender; as, a gentle nature, temper, or disposition; a gentle manner; a gentle address; a gentle voice.

3. A compellative of respect, consideration, or conciliation; as, gentle reader. "Gentle sirs." "Gentle Jew." "Gentle servant." --Shak.

4. Not wild, turbulent, or refractory; quiet and docile; tame; peaceable; as, a gentle horse.

5. Soft; not violent or rough; not strong, loud, or disturbing; easy; soothing; pacific; as, a gentle touch; a gentle gallop . "Gentle music." --Sir J. Davies.

O sleep! it is a gentle thing. --Coleridge.

The gentle craft, the art or trade of shoemaking.

Syn: Mild; meek; placid; dovelike; quiet; peaceful; pacific; bland; soft; tame; tractable; docile.

Usage: Gentle, Tame, Mild, Meek. Gentle describes the natural disposition; tame, that which is subdued by training; mild implies a temper which is, by nature, not easily provoked; meek, a spirit which has been schooled to mildness by discipline or suffering. The lamb is gentle; the domestic fowl is tame; John, the Apostle, was mild; Moses was meek.

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