Etymograph

English

galloon

Galloon comes from French galon ‘braid’, and goes back to Middle French galoner.

  1. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600galoner1
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentgalonner2‘to braid’
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentgalon2‘braid’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1918galloon2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, French galonner
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English galloon
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1918, Ivan Bunin: “And when the "Atlantis" had finally entered the port…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600galonerWiktionary, French galonner
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentgalonnerWiktionary, English galloon‘to braid’
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentgalonWiktionary, English galloon‘braid’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1918galloonWiktionary, English galloon. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1918, Ivan Bunin: “And when the "Atlantis" had finally entered the port…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- ‘to choose’

will, volunteer, benevolent, malevolent, voluptuous, volition, wale, malevolence, 10 more

through Proto-Germanic *wela ‘well’

well, 3 more

through Vulgar Latin *gualare

gallantry, 3 more

through Old French galer ‘to have fun, enjoy oneself’

gallant, 4 more

Today it means

noun A braided trimming with bullion thread, used on men's coats in the eighteenth century, on women's apparel in the nineteenth, and on such furnishings as draperies or cushions.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “galloon”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for French galonner. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle French galoner / galloon

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