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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

volant en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈvoʊlənt/ (General-American)
  • /ˈvəʊlənt/ (UK)

Etymology

From Middle French volant, present participle of voler (“to fly”), from Latin volāre.

Meanings

  1. (not-comparable) Having extended wings as if flying.
    • Crest - A horseshoe ar. betw. two wings volant sa. Farrer 1864, Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales: Comprising a Registry of Armorial Bearings from the Earliest to the Present Time, page 342:
    • A demi-ostrich, wings volant proper. 1924, The Publications of the Harleian Society, page 73:
  2. (not-comparable) Represented as unsupported in the air.
    • A martlet volant. Motto - In Deo solo spes mea. Kay 1864, Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales: Comprising a Registry of Armorial Bearings from the Earliest to the Present Time, page 553:
  3. (not-comparable) Flying, or able to fly.
    • Alexander the Great […] lanced himself in manner of a Star Volant in the Air, leaping out of the East into the West, […] 1657, Philemon Holland, The Philosophie, Commonly Called, the Morals, Written by the Learned Philosopher, Plutarch, page 525:
  4. (not-comparable) Moving quickly or lightly, as though flying; nimble.
    • he turned to catch through the trees a flitting glimpse of her light dress, her volant attitude, as she sped silently and secretly back to the waiting group on the porch. 1891, Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger People's" Country, Nebraska, published 2005, page 209:

Deriveds

nonvolant · volant piece