Etymology Dictionary

JAUNTY, JANTY,  fantastical, finical.  (F.,—L.)   'We owe most of our janty fashions now in vogue to some adept beau among them' [the French]; Guardian, no. 149; dated 1713.   As if formed with suffix -y from the verb jaunt, to ramble idly about; but formerly janty (see Addenda), and either formed from F. gent, 'neat,' 'spruce,' Cot., or put for jantyl, from F. gentil.   See Gentle, Genteel.   Der. jaunt-i-ness, Spectator, no. 530.  [†]

ADDENDA

JAUNTY,  The spelling jaunty is due to the verb jaunt, with which it was easily linked, but it seems better to suppose that the true origin of jaunty was French, and it may be marked as (F.,—L.).   In this case, it is not really related to jaunt at all, but was merely confused with it.   It was formerly spelt janty, the earliest example being that given in Todd's Johnson, which perhaps points to a supposed French origin.   'Not every one that brings from beyond seas a new gin, or janty device, is therefore a philosopher;' Hobbes Considered (1662).   So also:  'A good janty way of begging;' and 'this is your janty nephew,' in The Parson's Wedding (1663), in Hazlitt's Old Plays, xiv. 401, 506.   'This jantee Sleightness to the French we owe;' T. Shadwell, Timon, p. 71 (1688).   In the Spectator, no. 503, 'a janty part of the town' means 'a genteel part.'   Mr. Davies notes that it is often spelt janté or jantée, as if it were a F. word, and 'still wore its foreign dress.'   Thus Farquhar has:  'Turn your head about with a janté air;' The Inconstant, Act I.   β. The explanation that it 'wore its foreign dress' is really no explanation, since there is no such word in French, and it is not easy to say how it came about.    The F. jante means a felly of a wheel, which has clearly nothing to do with the matter, but Cotgrave notes that this jante was also spelt gente, shewing confusion between initial gen- and jan-.   The suffix -é is mere pseudo-French, and the word is not a pp. from a verb genter (there being no such verb).   γ. The original is the F. gent, masc., gente, fem., 'neat, spruce, fine, compt, well arranged, quaintly dressed, also gentle, pliant, soft, easie;' Cot.   This word was actually borrowed by us, and appears as gent, spruce, gay, in Phillips (1706), Kersey, Bailey, &c., as well as in Spenser, F. Q. i. 9, 27.   Or else we may suppose that janty is short for jantyl, an occasional F. spelling of genteel.   δ. These two explanations are practically identical, since Littré shows that F. gent is merely an adaptation of F. gentil, rather than an independent formation from L. genitus.   We are thus led to consider janty as being a mere doublet of gentle or genteel, which are in fact identical.   Cf. 'So jimply lac'd her genty waist;' Burns, Bonie Ann.