regardant
English
Etymology
From Anglo-Norman regardant, Middle French regardant.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ɹɪˈɡɑːdn̩t/
Adjective
regardant (not comparable)
- (heraldry, of an animal) With the head turned toward the back of the body. [from 15th c.]
- 1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 25:
- The dog was waiting for him, her paws on the second tread, pere regardant with a happy lolling tongue.
- 1993, John Banville, Ghosts:
- I see a forked beast squatting on the midden of the world, red-eyed, regardant, gnawing on a shinbone: poor, dumb destroyer.
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- Watchful, attentive; contemplative. [from 16th c.]
- 1613, John Marston, William Barksted, The Insatiate Countess, II.3:
- To horse, to horse: thus once Eurydice, / With looks regardant, did the Thracian gaze […].
- 1895 October 1, Stephen Crane, chapter 8, in The Red Badge of Courage, 1st US edition, New York: D. Appleton and Company, page 84:
- He stood regardant for a moment.
- 1976, Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift, New York: Avon, →ISBN, page 183:
- And now others, casually regardant, passed the place in automobiles ….
- 1613, John Marston, William Barksted, The Insatiate Countess, II.3:
Related terms
- guardant
French
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Participle
regardant
- present participle of regarder
Adjective
regardant (feminine regardante, masculine plural regardants, feminine plural regardantes)
- miserly, stingy
Further reading
- “regardant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.