gallop

Middle English galopen, walopen, borrowed from Anglo-French galoper, gualoper (Picard dialect waloper), perhaps going back to Old Low Franconian *wala hlaupan, literally “to run well,” from *wala “well, with good appearance or effect” (going back to Germanic *welō) + *hlaupan “to run,” going back to Germanic *hlaup-a- — more at ³well, ¹leap ◆An alternative explanation sees the Old French noun as primary, and derived from Old Low Franconian *walhlaup-, from *wal- “battlefield” and *hlaup-, a nominal derivative of *hlaupan (hence alluding to a warrior's manner of riding on the battlefield). Though the meaning of the first noun is reflected in Old High German wal “battlefield,” the general meaning of the Germanic etymon is “the slain, the dead in battle” (see Valhalla).

borrowed from Middle French & Anglo-French galop, noun derivative of galoper “to ¹gallop”; replacing Middle English walop, borrowed from Anglo-French walop, galop ◆Alternatively, the noun could be original, and the verb a derivative of the noun. See note at ¹gallop.