gauntlet

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun to offer or accept a challenge
  2. noun a glove of armored leather; protects the hand
  3. noun a glove with long sleeve

Etymology

From Middle English gauntelett, gantlett, a borrowing from Old French gantelet (“gauntlet worn by a knight in armor, a token of one's personality or person, and symbolizing a challenge”), diminutive of gant (“glove”), a borrowing from Frankish *want (“glove; mitten”) and reinforced by Medieval Latin wantus (“glove”) itself borrowed from the former, from Proto-Germanic *wantuz (“glove; mitten”). Cognate with Dutch want (“mitten; shroud”), German Low German Want (“shroud”), Danish vante (“mitten”), Swedish vante (“glove; mitten”), Faroese vøttur (“glove; mitten”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

gantlet

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