valiant
adjectivenounattested in dialogue
- //ˈvæliənt//
Possessing or showing courage or determination; brave, heroic.
adjective
- 1
Possessing or showing courage or determination; brave, heroic.
A valiant man’s look is more than a coward’s sword.
For by readyng of hiſtories fyrſte we know how longe time mightie empyres, great kyngedomes, famous common weales and citees haue floriſhed: how many yeres noble prynces, valiant capitaynes, and wyſe gouernours haue reigned: in what age they were, which was before other, and how farre diſtante in tyme one from an other.
And of the Gadites there ſeparated them ſelues ſome vnto Dauid into the holde of the wildernes, valiant men of warre, and mẽ of armes, & apt for battel, which colde handle ſpeare and ſhield, and their faces were like the faces of lyons, and were like the roes in the mountaines in ſwiftenes, […]
Hee's truly Valiant, that can wiſely ſuffer / The worſt that man can breath, / And make his Wrongs, his Out-ſides, / To weare them like his Rayment, careleſſely, / And ne're preferre his iniuries to his heart, / To bring it into danger.
- 2
Characterized by or done with bravery or valour.
another valiant attempt at rescue
She is a theame of honour and renowne, / A ſpurre to valiant and magnanimous deeds, / Whoſe preſent courage may beate downe our foes, / And fame in time to come canonize us, [...]
Etymology
From Middle English vailaunt (“having or showing courage or valour, valiant; characterized by valour; powerful, strong; person of valour or strength; excellent, worthy; beneficial, useful; valuable; legally valid, binding”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman vaillaunt, vaylant [and other forms], and Old French vailant, vaillant (“brave, valiant; having value, valuable”) [and other forms], from the present participle of valoir (“to have value; to be worth”), from Latin valēre (“to have value; to be worth; to be strong; to have influence or power”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“powerful, strong; to rule”).
noun
- 1
obsoleteA person who acts with valour, showing hero-like characteristics in the midst of danger.
Cowards dye many times before their deaths, / The valiant neuer taſte of death but once: [...]
O yee Angells, yee Champions and valiants of the court of heauen, and ſtout ſoldiers of Chriſt your King, who euerie one ſingle is able to encounter and to defeat the greateſt armie that euer was ſeene on earth, where are you?
No Sailer vvith the Nevvs ſvvell Egypt’s Pride. / By vvhat inglorious Fate our Valiant dy’d!
The valiant profit more / Their country, than the fineſt clevereſt ſpeakers. / Valour once known, will ſoon find eloquence / To trumpet forth her praiſe— […]
Forms
- plural
- valiants
- comparative
- more valiant
- superlative
- most valiant
valiant · Possessing or showing courage or determination; brave, heroic.
valid · Well-grounded or justifiable, pertinent.Valium · The drug diazepam.valley · An elongated depression cast between hills or mountains,…