English▸ noun
(plural gallantries)
[mass noun] 1 courageous behaviour, especially in battle:
a medal awarded for outstanding gallantry during the raid.
2 polite attention or respect given by men to women:
no young man offers to carry this burden for her: such gallantry is out of fashion.
▪ (gallantries) [count noun] gallant actions or words:
I courted her with all the genteel gallantries of a minstrel.
▪ archaic sexual intrigue:
what men call gallantry, and the gods adultery.
– ORIGIN late 16th century (in the sense ‘splendour, elegance’): from French galanterie, from galant (see gallant).