also gant·let (gôntˈlĭt, gäntˈ-)
nouna. A form of punishment or torture in which people armed with sticks or other weapons arrange themselves in two lines facing each other and beat the person forced to run between them.
b. The lines of people so arranged.
- An onslaught or attack from all sides: “The hostages . . . ran the gauntlet of insult on their way to the airport” (Harper's).
- A severe trial; an ordeal.
Word History: The spelling
gauntlet is acceptable for both
gauntlet meaning “glove” or “challenge” and
gauntlet meaning “a form of punishment in which lines of men beat a person forced to run between them”; but this has not always been the case. The story of the
gauntlet used in
to throw down the gauntlet is linguistically unexciting: it comes from the Old French word
gantelet, a diminutive of
gant, “glove.” From the time of its appearance in Middle English (in a work composed in 1449), the word has been spelled with an
au as well as an
a, still a possible spelling. But the
gauntlet used in
to run the gauntlet is an alteration of the earlier English form
gantlope, which came from the Swedish word
gatlopp, a compound of
gata, “lane,” and
lopp, “course.” The earliest recorded form of the English word, found in 1646, is
gantelope, showing that alteration of the Swedish word had already occurred. The English word was then influenced by the spelling of the word
gauntlet, “glove,” and in 1676 we find the first recorded instance of the spelling
gauntlet for this word, although
gantelope is found as late as 1836. From then on spellings with
au and
a are both found, but the
au seems to have won out.
