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Added 9 October 2026

gallop

/ˈɡæləp/ noun

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about gallop at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A fast gait of a horse; a two-beat stride during which all four legs are off the ground simultaneously.

verb

Ride at a galloping pace.
He was galloping down the road
Go at galloping speed.
The horse was galloping along
Cause to move at full gallop.
Did you gallop the horse just now?

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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