# gauntlet

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɡɔːnt.lət/ · frequency rank #24,163

## Definitions
1. Protective armor for the hands, formerly thrown down as a challenge to combat.
2. A long glove covering the wrist.
3. A rope on which hammocks or clothes are hung for drying.
4. An eruption of pellagra on the hands.

## Etymology
From Middle English gauntelett, gantlett, a borrowing from Old French gantelet (“gauntlet worn by a knight in armor, a token of one's personality or person, and symbolizing a challenge”), diminutive of gant (“glove”), a borrowing from Frankish *want (“glove; mitten”) and reinforced by Medieval Latin wantus (“glove”) itself borrowed from the former, from Proto-Germanic *wantuz (“glove; mitten”). Cognate with Dutch want (“mitten; shroud”), German Low German Want (“shroud”), Danish vante (“mitten”), Swedish vante (“glove; mitten”), Faroese vøttur (“glove; mitten”).

## Common misspellings (12)
`aguntlet`, `ganutlet`, `gaunltet`, `gaunntlet`, `gauntelt`, `gauntlett`, `gauntllet`, `gauntlte`, `gaunttlet`, `gautnlet`, `ggauntlet`, `guantlet`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/gauntlet