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Origin and history of prance

prance(v.)

late 14c., prauncen, originally of horses in high mettle, "make a show in walking; move proudly, lifting the feet with a capering motion," a word of unknown origin. By late 14c. of persons, "to strut, swagger, act proudly and aggressively."

Perhaps related to Middle English pranken "to show off" (from Middle Dutch pronken "to strut, parade;" see prank) by influence of dance (though prank is not attested as early as this word); or perhaps from Danish dialectal prandse "to go in a stately manner." Klein suggests Old French paravancier. Related: Pranced; prancing. As a noun from 1751, from the verb.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to prance

prank(n.)

"a ludicrous trick" [Johnson], played sometimes in malice but more often in sport, 1520s, a word of uncertain origin, perhaps related to the obsolete verb prank "act ostentatiously, show off" (mid-15c.), also "to decorate, adorn in a showy manner" (1540s), which is related to Middle Low German prank "display" (compare also Dutch pronken, German prunken "to make a show, to strut"). The verb in the "play a trick on" sense also is from 1520s. Related: Pranked; pranking. Compare prig. Prinkum-prankum "a prank or trick" is attested from 1590s; as the name of a kind of dance, 1630s.

prancer(n.)

1560s, originally thieves' slang for "a horse," agent noun from prance (v.). Meaning "a prancing horse" is from 1590s.

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    Trends of prance

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    swagger
    1580s, "to strut in a defiant or insolent manner," probably a frequentative form of swag (v.) "to sway." The earliest recorded uses are in Shakespeare ("Midsummer Night's Dream," "2 Henry IV," "King Lear"). The meaning "to boast or brag" is from 1590s. Related: Swaggered; swagger
    ruffle
    early 14c., ruffelen, "to disturb the smoothness or order of," a word of obscure origin. Similar forms are found in Scandinavian (such as Old Norse hrufla "to scratch") and Low German (ruffelen "to wrinkle, curl;" Middle Low German ruffen "to fornicate"), but the exact relation a
    strut
    "walk in a vain, important manner, walk with affected dignity," 1510s, from Middle English strouten "display one's clothes proudly, vainly flaunt fine attire" (late 14c.), earlier "to stick out, protrude, bulge, swell," from Old English strutian "to stand out stiffly, swell or bu
    jet
    Middle English had a verb getten, jetten meaning "to prance, strut, swagger, be showy" (c. 1400), from getter, jetter, the...
    thresh
    Germanic sense is suggested by the use of the word in Romanic languages that borrowed it, such as Italian trescare "to prance...
    go
    Old English gan "to advance, walk; depart, go away; happen, take place; conquer; observe, practice, exercise," from West Germanic *gaian (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian gan, Middle Dutch gaen, Dutch gaan, Old High German gan, German gehen), from PIE root *ghē- "to release,
    gait
    c. 1300, gate "a going or walking, departure, journey," earlier "way, road, path" (c. 1200), from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Norse gata "way, road, path"), from Proto-Germanic *gatwon "a going" (source also of Old High German gazza "street," German Gasse "a way, road," Go
    dire
    "causing or attended by great fear, dreadful, awful," 1560s, from Latin dirus "fearful, awful, boding ill," a religious term, which is of unknown origin. Apparently a dialect word in Latin; perhaps from Oscan and Umbrian and perhaps cognate with Greek deinos "terrible," Sanskrit
    ride
    Middle English riden, from Old English ridan "sit or be carried on" (as on horseback), "move forward; rock; float, sail" (class I strong verb; past tense rad, past participle riden), from Proto-Germanic *ridan (source also of Old Norse riða, Old Saxon ridan, Old Frisian rida "to
    walk
    "travel on foot," c. 1200, a merger of two verbs, 1. Old English wealcan "to toss, roll, move round" (past tense weolc, past participle wealcen), and 2. wealcian "to roll up, curl," from Proto-Germanic *welk- (source also of Old Norse valka "to drag about," Danish valke "to full"

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    Dictionary entries near prance
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